So what does it take for a program to be considered a PUP? Well, Malwarebytes offers a list of behaviors that will cause Malwarebytes to flag a software program as a PUP. Some security software makers are more focused on malware, while others - Malwarebytes, for example - are more serious about detecting and removing PUPs. Whether an antimalware - or antivirus - application chooses to flag and detect PUPs is up to that individual engine. Antivirus companies like Avira have even been sued just for labelling software programs like these as “potentially unwanted programs.” Avira won that particular lawsuit, but they might have lost had gone farther and labelled that program flat-out malware.īy classifying these programs as just “potentially unwanted programs,” antimalware software creators are attempting to shield themselves from legal action while detecting software most people don’t want on their computers. Blocking such an application and labelling it “malware” would open up a company to lawsuits - at least, that appears to be the feeling across the industry. If you download and install this stuff, your computer wasn’t infected against your will - you agreed to some fine print and gave the company permission to run this stuff on your computer. All the big free Windows software download sites bundle crapware - even SourceForge does! And it’s now become normal for Mac freeware download sites to bundle potentially unwanted programs, too. RELATED: Yes, Every Freeware Download Site is Serving Crapware (Here's the Proof) “Potentially unwanted programs” are programs that arrive along with a EULA that tricks you into installing them. “Malware” is malicious software that arrives without your express permission. The key difference is how a potentially unwanted program arrives. Note that these programs do absolutely nothing good on your computer - they slow it down, track you, clutter the system, and show you additional advertisements.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2022
Categories |