Malware Categories: PUP

2048 – Mega Pack of Games is a browser extension for Chrome and Chromium browsers. It promises to give you games to play in your browser, however, it does come with some problems. 2048 – Mega Pack of Games gets access to data that it should not need and it opens web pages to show … Continued

24×7 Help is a PC support that claims to solve your computer issues anytime via hourly charge remote support. It is distributed as a bundle together with various questionable software and for this reason it is not recommended to use it. Computer users usually don’t even know about its infiltration until they see the notification offering … Continued

365Scores – Live Scores and Sports News, or just 365Scores, is a new tab replacer – a browser extension that makes potentially unhelpful changes to your settings. Although 365Scores is a useful add-on for those who want to immerse themselves in sports news, the way that 365Scores actually works is a lot like browser hijackers. … Continued

Abrasive by Softology is a program for Windows PCs. Unfortunately, it is detected by many antivirus scanners – as being malicious. The labels for Abrasive include “Trojan”, “Malware”, “Unsafe”, and “PUA” which stands for “Potentially Unwanted Application”. Abrasive should be caught by every user’s antivirus tools. However, that doesn’t always happen. About Abrasive: Type of … Continued

Activeris Antimalware is a little known commercial anti-malware application that is distributed by scammers. Although this software does not detect false positives, it is installed together with other programs that are detected by Activeris scan. This is a very bad practice and this anti-malware might be considered Rogue Antivirus. At the moment we rate it … Continued

Ad Video Blocker is a browser add-on that blocks YouTube ads. While it does that, Ad Video Blocker is also ad-supported. As a result, it can open unexpected pages and redirect to potentially unwanted sites. While Ad Video Blocker is not harmful, it’s not the best ad blocker to use. About Ad Video Blocker: Classification … Continued

AdBlock Now is a browser add-on that promises to block ads and pop-ups. In my experience, it doesn’t do a good job. But beyond that, there are things about AdBlock Now that are suspicious, such as an inconsistent privacy policy and similarities to adware extensions. It might be best to avoid AdBlock Now (Adblock-pro-now.com). AdBlock Now in … Continued

AdBlock Stream is an ad blocking browser extension. Unfortunately, it is considered to be riskware by some security vendors. It’s important to be careful of AdBlock Stream. Consider how you installed it and whether you trust it. AdBlock Stream’s problem is that it uses iffy ads to spread online. This might lead to accidental installations. … Continued

AD&POP Block is a browser extension that blocks pop-up ads. Or rather, it replaces them with its own advertisements. Sometimes, it is advertised in a way that can lead people to install it without meaning to. It’s promoted by browser hijackers, so if you have AD&POP Block installed, you might have some other potentially unwanted extensions, … Continued

AdSkipNow is a browser add-on that may have some unwanted effects on your browser, such as opening new tabs with ads. AdSkipNow is advertised online as a tool to block video ads. That’s misleading as it doesn’t block the ads but skip them, and only on Youtube.com. And it fails at that. AdSkipNow is either malicious or … Continued

Advance-System-Care is a PC protection utility, developed for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10. It is described to function as a cleaner, eliminating adware parasites, handling and sorting out startup items, removing out-dated entries in the registry or fixing damaged ones. All of these three features are supposed to significantly enhance the speed … Continued

Advanced Clean Pro is a potentially unwanted program that disguises as a Windows system optimizer, which scans the machine and fixes all the errors which slow down the computer. Unfortunately, this too-good-to-be-true tool is nothing more than another copy of rogue applications released by the infamous PCVARK, that simply displays false exaggerated results in order to influence … Continued

Advanced Cleaner Pro is an optimizer for your computer. It promises to cleanse and sharpen your PC for great performance and to make Windows run better by freeing up space. While Advanced Cleaner Pro markets itself as an immensely useful tool, its impact is unlikely to be be neficial. Freeing up space, cleaning and repairing … Continued

Advanced Disk Recovery is a data recovery program that was developed by Systweak. It is categorized as a potentially unwanted program because of the fact that it is distributed bundled to other applications without clearly disclosing about, so most of the users are surprised to see it running on their computers out of nowhere. If … Continued

Advanced Driver Booster is correctly detected by many anti-malware programs as a fake driver updater. It refers to the illegal practice of displaying intentional false positives to make people believe that their computers have a problem with outdated drivers. Some people were tricked by its deceptive statements and agreed to buy its so-called full version. … Continued

Advanced Identity Protector, supposedly, is a personal security ensuring program, that you may come across when searching for some tool to take care of your passwords and the safety of virtual identity. Despite the professional looking design, there is nothing useful about this program and on the contrary, using it can result in hacked accounts, … Continued

Advanced Password Manager is advertised as a password-managing application. Based on the information describing this program on its official landing page, it is the tool to help people in managing their passwords, storing them all in one place without the necessity to remember each particular password separately. At first glance, it might seem that the … Continued

Advanced PC Care is a tool to maintain your operating system from unproductive behavior. Even though there is a premium version of this program which is obtainable after 24.14 US Dollars are paid, a free trial sample is provided as well. The latter one is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10. … Continued

Advanced PC Fixer takes pride in its multi-tasking skills. This program is described to thrivingly implement its functions without losing efficiency or focus. A substantial amount of digital setbacks are said to be expeditiously managed by Advanced PC Fixer. In its official page, it points out to be equal to a trio of security software: … Continued

Advanced Registry Doctor is a registry cleaner for Windows PCs. It’s made by Elcor Software and it has Pro and Lite versions. Advanced Registry Doctor can supposedly improve PC speed and stability by finding and deleting unnecessary keys and defragmenting the registry. However, some cybersecurity vendors consider Advanced Registry Doctor to be potentially harmful. If … Continued

Advanced System Optimizer by Systweak advertises itself as an “easy-to-use solution for all of your Windows PC optimization needs”. ASO can be considered to be a potentially unwanted program (PUP). It is probably not dangerous to use, but you should be aware of the problems it has, as well as the alternatives to it. Advanced … Continued

Advanced System Protector is an old antivirus application that was legitimate for very long. It is made by Systweak at the moment. However, we discovered that it is distributed using heavy rogue tactics at the moment, together with other malware. Although the software does not report false infections (yet it is quite poor in detection … Continued

Advanced System Repair Pro, or Advanced SystemRepair Pro, is a program that isn’t any sort of malware, but can be considered potentially unwanted. Advanced System Repair Pro is most popular in the United States and is a relatively new program. But it seems like not all users want to keep using the program — some … Continued

AesLocker is presented as a file encryptor for keeping your data private. However, AesLocker also installs a miner that makes money for its operators. AesLocker calls this miner “update service”. Although AesLocker does encrypt files, the miner is a bit controversial. You might want to remove it from your computer, as it brings you no … Continued

Allsearchsite.com is a search engine that works as an advertising site. It promotes other fake search engines, as well as browser hijackers. As Allsearchsite.com lacks the features that make search engines useful, it’s unlikely that people visit it on purpose. So, if you find yourself on Allsearchsite.com unexpectedly and if it happens often, consider that … Continued

Amazon Assistant is an official application from the famous internet retailer. You can voluntarily download it on Amazon.com, your browser’s extension store, or get it as a consequence of inattentive web surfing and shareware installation. It supports all operating systems and their browsers. Despite being a real creation of the famous Amazon corporation, Amazon Assistant … Continued

amuleC pretends to be a legitimate program aMule which is a peer-to-peer file sharing network, founded in 2003 and distributed completely for free. The suspicious variant does not have an official website, but is available for download in random file-sharing domains. Reports from a number of concerned people indicate that their Google Chrome, Safari, Internet … Continued

Anonymizer Gadget is not a useful app, which would be beneficial to have on one’s PC set up. This is a PUP – a potentially unwanted application – which promoted functionality does not outweigh the adverse and unwanted secondary effects it has on the whole of your computer’s system. This PUP is developed by Jetico … Continued

Antispam Cyber Privacy offers to protect your privacy (if you buy it). But is it helpful at all? After all, it is detected by many antivirus programs as a Deceptor, Unwanted, or Adware (). About Antispam Cyber Privacy: Type of threat Potentially unwanted program. Privacy features by Antispam Cyber Privacy Deletes browsing history, cookies, looks for … Continued

Apogee PC Pro rogue security tool features a bunch of functions: removal of tampered, corrupted or unwanted files in Windows Registry, prevention of freezing and crashing, protection of data, malware removal, internet optimization and clutter reduction. While all of these convenient capabilities sound practicable, we have heard similar promises from developers of such potentially unwanted … Continued

ApplicationWork is a mysterious Mac application and Safari extension. It is installed stealthily, and people are alarmed to find that they have an unfamiliar application installed when they never agreed to it. More alarming is that ApplicationWork is detected as malicious adware by antivirus programs, and the mysterious extension has the ability to track passwords typed … Continued

Archive Manager is a utility tool designed to fit Mac computers. It is supposed to compress files and folders into various formats and thus save space on your hard drive. It obviously sounds nice, however, there are some hidden features that you should know about before installing and using this application. Most anti-malware applications consider … Continued

Ashampoo Driver Updater is a driver updater, a PC utility. It is advertised as a helpful little program that optimizes PC performance by updating device drivers. Unfortunately, Ashampoo Driver Updater isn’t quite as good as it presents. A few anti-malware programs flag it as a PUP (potentially unwanted program), while experts insist that driver updaters … Continued

Ashampoo WinOptimizer is a PC cleaner and optimizer. Unsurprisingly, some of its versions are flagged by multiple antivirus scanners (). WinOptimizer can be used, but it is not advisable. Not just because it is a PUP but also because this paid program offers a lot of features that are already available for free. Optimizers like … Continued

Audio to Audio, or AudioToAudio, is a free audio files converter developed by Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc. It is promoted as an audio converter capable of converting the following formats: AIFF, FLAC, MP3, OGG, WAV, and WMA. The AudiotoAudio app is also said to give users free access to online music tracks of all time and … Continued

Auslogics Anti-Malware is a program that’s supposed to enhance the security of your computer. However, it gets flagged by some browsers and antivirus tools as dangerous or potentially unwanted. This doesn’t mean that Auslogics Anti-Malware is dangerous, but it has a few problems that you should know before you use the program. About Auslogics Anti-Malware in … Continued

Auto PC Cleaner 2019 is a program that promises to help users optimize their PC by catching malware, changing the settings to improve performance, assisting with uninstalling software, and other functions. But Auto PC Cleaner 2019 has some scareware features and its scan results are somewhat misleading. This program is a clone of other PCVARK … Continued

Auto PC Speedup is a system cleanup tool promising to detect and remove malware and PUP Threats, enhance system performance, remove unwanted items impacting system performance, improve system startup time and increase available space on the hard drive. However, a lot of the promises made by Auto PC Speedup are not well-kept. The tool is … Continued

Auto Purge is supposed to help you protect your browsing privacy, but its real goal seems to be to hijack your internet searches. Rather than help you by deleting your browsing history and cookies, Auto Purge replaces your home page and search settings so that it can show you more ads. Such is this “privacy” … Continued

AutoPurged is a browser extension that deletes your browsing history when you close your browser. It also replaces your search engine with Yahoo. It’s not a dangerous extension, but be careful and make sure you’re comfortable with its search behavior and its privacy policy before you use it. About AutoPurged: Type of threat Search hijacker. … Continued

There are some problems with the Avast SafePrice extension. It is only a potentially unwanted program (PUP), so it should not be treated as a malware infection. There is a small difference between these categories, and usually if a tool is a PUP, it steps over the line and is placed among malware samples as … Continued

Baidu PC Faster is a system optimizer that promises to clean junk files, disable unnecessary startup items and repair your system in one click. However, since many users have noticed this application to be added without their consent, it is categorized as a potentially unwanted program. Usually, the tool comes bundled to various freeware, such … Continued

Bandoo is a browser extension that claims to improve your experience using Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo mail, Hotmail, Gmail and similar applications that have option to chat. Basically, it adds various emoticons, text effects, etc. to the programs mentioned before. It seems like a fun tool. However, many users find it difficult to uninstall Bandoo. … Continued