Should I block it?

No, this file is 100% safe to run.

VersionsAdditional versions

564ba 14.74%
f4c1b 5.77%
76b79 0.64%
bb4b1 5.77%
e39c3 5.77%
d175c 1.92%
35e91 13.46%
a4ca4 1.92%
f91bb 2.56%
65603 3.85%
4cc98 0.64%
881db 4.49%
bad7b 0.64%
2e1df 10.90%
ec0c1 0.64%
edfe7 4.49%
91939 1.92%
18ee6 0.64%
fa2a2 10.90%
3bba9 0.64%
51cb8 2.56%
67a2b 1.28%
a4493 0.64%
01f17 1.28%
704ee 0.64%
View more
(Note, AnchorFree Inc publishes each variation of this file with the same version, but the hashes are unique.)

Relationships

Parent process
Related files

PE structurePE file structure

Show functions
Import table
advapi32.dll
SetServiceStatus, QueryServiceConfigW, EnumServicesStatusW, RegEnumKeyExA, RegOpenKeyExA, RegQueryValueExW, RegOpenKeyExW, SetSecurityDescriptorDacl, OpenSCManagerW, CreateServiceW, CloseServiceHandle, RegCreateKeyW, RegSetValueExW, RegCloseKey, OpenServiceW, StartServiceW, QueryServiceStatus, ControlService, DeleteService, RegisterServiceCtrlHandlerW, ChangeServiceConfig2W, StartServiceCtrlDispatcherW, CloseEventLog, ReadEventLogW, GetOldestEventLogRecord, InitializeSecurityDescriptor, OpenEventLogW, RegisterServiceCtrlHandlerExW
iphlpapi.dll
GetAdaptersInfo
kernel32.dll
LoadLibraryW, GetProcAddress, OpenEventW, GetVersionExW, GetLastError, FindClose, FindNextFileW, WaitForSingleObject, FindFirstFileW, CreateEventW, CloseHandle, OpenProcess, CopyFileW, SystemTimeToFileTime, GetSystemTime, FileTimeToSystemTime, GetSystemTimeAsFileTime, Sleep, FormatMessageW, InterlockedDecrement, DeleteFileW, GetModuleFileNameW, SetConsoleCtrlHandler, UnhandledExceptionFilter, lstrlenA, SetEnvironmentVariableA, GetProcessHeap, SetEndOfFile, InterlockedExchange, GetStringTypeW, GetStringTypeA, GetLocaleInfoA, FreeLibrary, GetCurrentThreadId, CreateThread, PostQueuedCompletionStatus, SetEvent, CreateIoCompletionPort, GetQueuedCompletionStatus, InitializeCriticalSection, DeleteCriticalSection, EnterCriticalSection, LeaveCriticalSection, WaitForMultipleObjects, FindCloseChangeNotification, FindNextChangeNotification, FindFirstChangeNotificationW, ResetEvent, GetModuleHandleW, GetSystemInfo, GetVersionExA, GetModuleHandleA, LoadLibraryA, SetCurrentDirectoryW, CreateMutexW, ReleaseMutex, OpenMutexW, GetTempPathW, GetTempFileNameW, GetSystemDirectoryW, OutputDebugStringW, GetSystemWindowsDirectoryW, GetLongPathNameW, GetVolumeInformationW, WideCharToMultiByte, MultiByteToWideChar, CreateFileW, ReadFile, InterlockedIncrement, CreateDirectoryW, HeapFree, TerminateProcess, GetCurrentProcess, SetUnhandledExceptionFilter, IsDebuggerPresent, ExitThread, ResumeThread, FileTimeToLocalFileTime, GetDriveTypeA, FindFirstFileA, HeapAlloc, HeapReAlloc, GetDriveTypeW, RaiseException, RtlUnwind, WriteFile, GetConsoleCP, GetConsoleMode, GetStdHandle, GetModuleFileNameA, TlsGetValue, TlsAlloc, TlsSetValue, TlsFree, SetLastError, GetCPInfo, GetACP, GetOEMCP, IsValidCodePage, HeapCreate, VirtualFree, VirtualAlloc, HeapSize, ExitProcess, GetTimeZoneInformation, FreeEnvironmentStringsW, GetEnvironmentStringsW, GetCommandLineW, SetHandleCount, GetFileType, GetStartupInfoA, QueryPerformanceCounter, GetTickCount, GetCurrentProcessId, LCMapStringA, LCMapStringW, GetFullPathNameA, GetFileInformationByHandle, PeekNamedPipe, CreateFileA, GetCurrentDirectoryA, SetFilePointer, GetFullPathNameW, CompareStringW, CompareStringA, FlushFileBuffers, InitializeCriticalSectionAndSpinCount, WriteConsoleA, GetConsoleOutputCP, WriteConsoleW, SetStdHandle, FindResourceExW, FindResourceW, LoadResource, LockResource, SizeofResource, GetTimeFormatA, FormatMessageA, LocalFree, GetFileSize, GetDateFormatA, HeapDestroy, EncodePointer, DecodePointer, HeapSetInformation, FindFirstFileExW, IsProcessorFeaturePresent, GetStartupInfoW, GetCurrentDirectoryW, InterlockedExchangeAdd, CreateEventA, OpenEventA, CreateWaitableTimerA, QueueUserAPC, TerminateThread, SetWaitableTimer, ReleaseSemaphore, CreateSemaphoreA, InterlockedCompareExchange, UnregisterWaitEx, RegisterWaitForSingleObject, SleepEx, CreateWaitableTimerW, DuplicateHandle, GetLocaleInfoW, GetUserDefaultLCID, EnumSystemLocalesA, IsValidLocale
ole32.dll
CoCreateInstance, CoInitialize, OleRun
psapi.dll
GetModuleFileNameExW, EnumProcessModules, EnumProcesses
shell32.dll
SHGetFolderPathW, SHGetFolderPathA
shlwapi.dll
PathAppendW, PathCombineW, PathFileExistsW, PathIsDirectoryW, PathIsRootW, PathAddBackslashW
user32.dll
wvsprintfW, GetSystemMetrics
ws2_32.dll
WSACreateEvent, WSAEventSelect, WSAEnumNetworkEvents, WSAIoctl

hsswd.exe

By AnchorFree Inc (Signed)

Remove hsswd.exe
MD5:   564bab77cd96ce0e3fd5bbcdded142df
SHA1:   c8e993c3130261d8cbe19ad59311218a3c3250e1
SHA256:   55f9555a3853c77fead30770d7bff6f45a3be7ca8a6b8b7df6fb3b68cdc46f03

About hsswd.exe (from AnchorFree Inc)

Hotspot Shield creates a virtual private network (VPN) between your laptop or iPhone and our Internet gateway. This impenetrable tunnel prevents snoopers, hackers, ISP‘s, from viewing your web browsin

Overview

hsswd.exe runs as a service under the name ExpatWd (ExpatWd) with extensive SYSTEM privileges (full administrator access). This is typically installed with the program Expat Shield 2.24 published by AnchorFree Inc and is most likely removed by most users once installed (61% removed). The file is digitally signed by AnchorFree Inc which was issued by the VeriSign certificate authority (CA).

DetailsDetails

File name:hsswd.exe
Typical file path:C:\Program Files\hotspot shield\bin\hsswd.exe
Size:321.82 KB (329,544 bytes)
Certificate
Issued to:AnchorFree Inc
Authority (CA):VeriSign
Effective date:Sunday, March 27, 2011
Expiration date:Sunday, April 13, 2014
Digital DNA
PE subsystem:Windows Console
Entropy:6.591774
File packed:No
.NET CLR:No
More details

ResourcesPrograms

The following program will install this file
AnchorFree Inc
  61% remove
Expat Shield is a VPN program that allows users to access UK TV websites such as BBC iPlayer and ITV when outside of the UK. Expat Shield routes your IP address via a UK IP address as if you were still in the UK wherever you are in the world. Normally, the BBC will block any IP address that is outside the UK from accessing its services both online and through the BBC iPlayer program.

BehaviorsBehaviors

Services
Runs under 'SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services' by the Service Controller (services.exe)
  • ExpatWd
  • 'ExpatWd' (Expat Shield Monitoring Service)
  • 'HssWd' (Hotspot Shield Monitoring Service)

ResourcesResource utilization

(Note: statistics below are averages based on a minimum sample size of 200 unique participants)
Averages
 
CPU
Total CPU:0.00263095%
0.028634%
Kernel CPU:0.00140485%
0.013761%
User CPU:0.00122610%
0.014873%
Kernel CPU time:3,407 ms/min
100,923,805ms/min
CPU cycles:1,682,598/sec
17,470,203/sec
Context switches:37/sec
284/sec
Memory
Private memory:2.83 MB
21.59 MB
Private (maximum):6.62 MB
Private (minimum):3.82 MB
Non-paged memory:2.83 MB
21.59 MB
Virtual memory:56.73 MB
140.96 MB
Virtual memory (peak):58.95 MB
169.69 MB
Working set:4.3 MB
18.61 MB
Working set (peak):6.97 MB
37.95 MB
Page faults:3,312/min
2,039/min
I/O
I/O read transfer:1.38 KB/sec
1.02 MB/min
I/O read operations:2/sec
343/min
I/O write transfer:145 Bytes/sec
274.99 KB/min
I/O write operations:1/sec
227/min
I/O other transfer:6.12 KB/sec
448.09 KB/min
I/O other operations:173/sec
1,671/min
Resource allocations
Threads:5
12
Handles:113
600
GUI GDI count:4
103
GUI USER count:1
49

BehaviorsProcess properties

Integrety level:System
Platform:64-bit
Command lines:
  • "C:\Program Files\expat shield\bin\hsswd.exe" -product expat
  • "C:\Program Files\hotspot shield\bin\hsswd.exe" -product hss
Owner:SYSTEM
Windows Service
Service name:ExpatWd
Display name:ExpatWd
Type:Win32OwnProcess
Parent process:services.exe (Services and Controller app by Microsoft)

ResourcesThreads

Averages
 
hsswd.exe (main module)
Total CPU:0.00449040%
0.272967%
Kernel CPU:0.00301349%
0.107585%
User CPU:0.00147692%
0.165382%
CPU cycles:560,833/sec
5,741,424/sec
Context switches:7/sec
79/sec
Memory:340 KB
1.16 MB
wow64.dll
Total CPU:0.00000535%
Kernel CPU:0.00000000%
User CPU:0.00000535%
CPU cycles:31/sec
Memory:252 KB

Common loaded modules

These are modules that are typiclaly loaded within the context of this process.

Windows OS versionsDistribution by Windows OS

OS versiondistribution
Windows 7 Ultimate 38.31%
Windows 7 Home Premium 21.43%
Microsoft Windows XP 14.29%
Windows 8 Pro 6.49%
Windows Vista Home Premium 4.55%
Windows 7 Professional 3.90%
Windows 7 Home Basic 2.60%
Windows 8 Enterprise 2.60%
Windows 7 Ultimate N 1.95%
Windows 8 Pro with Media Center 1.30%
Windows 8 Single Language 0.65%
Windows 8 Enterprise N 0.65%
Windows XP Professional 0.65%
Windows 8 0.65%

Distribution by countryDistribution by country

United States installs about 20.69% of hsswd.exe.

OEM distributionDistribution by PC manufacturer

PC Manufacturerdistribution
Toshiba 24.19%
Dell 19.35%
ASUS 12.90%
Hewlett-Packard 10.48%
Lenovo 9.68%
Acer 7.26%
Intel 3.23%
Sony 3.23%
MSI 3.23%
GIGABYTE 3.23%
American Megatrends 1.61%
Gateway 1.61%
Should I remove It? Clean your PC of unwanted adware, toolbars and bloatware.

Download it for FREE