More about how F-Secure classifies programs as Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUA) or Unwanted Applications (UA)
Also known as: Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP), Potentially Unwanted Software (PUS), grayware or unwanted software
A Potentially Unwanted Application (PUA) has behaviors or aspects that can be considered undesirable or unwanted, depending on the user's context. For example, a network monitoring application may be considered useful to a system administrator using it to monitor an office workstation, but undesirable to the workstation user, whose security and privacy may be impacted.
An Unwanted Application (UA) has a significant number of questionable or risky characteristics, putting it on the extreme end of the PUA range. For example, an application bundle that leverages on the popularity of one application to entice users into installing a second included application, which serves aggressive or annoying ads.
PUAs and UAs do not meet the stricter definition of malware.
A PUA or UA can impact your privacy and security. It can also affect your productivity, or put unwanted stress on your device's resources. Examples of some of the potential effects a PUA can have include:
Unwanted impact on productivity:
Unwanted stress on the device's resources:
Compromises security:
Compromises privacy:
Classifying a program as a PUA or UA can be a challenge, as the same elements that seem attractive and useful to one person can be considered unwanted by another. To account for this, suspected PUAs and UAs undergo an additional evaluation.
We check the program being evaluated against the following list of behaviors or traits (divided into 5 categories) which are generally considered unwanted or risky. General consumer opinion of the program is also taken into account.
A program is considered a PUA if it has behavior or traits that match, or have the same effect as, one or more of the listed items. If the program has a significant number of behavior or traits that match items in this list, it is considered a UA.
It is very important to note that the guideline here is a non-exhaustive list. Because new forms of software are constantly being developed, we may update, expand or amend this list over time without prior announcement or notice to adapt to the ever-changing security landscape.
The application makes claims about its identification, source, owner, purpose, functionality or features that are fraudulent, misleading or unclear. It does not fully disclose its functionalities, bundled components and other information relevant to how it affects the user's system prior to or during installation.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
Installation of the application is initiated based on false, misleading or fraudulent representation. It does not seek user consent and/or provide adequate control of the components that perform the installation and/or changes made to the user's system. Uninstallation is difficult, misleading or not straightforward.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
Misleading, intrusive or out-of-context advertisements.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
The application performs unexpected or misleading behavior (and often, without consent).
Examples include, but are not limited to:
An application collects or transmits private information and does not disclose this behavior to the user prior to installation. Furthermore, the application does not provide a way for the user to give consent to such collection or transmission, or does not provide adequate details about the use of the collected or transmitted information.
F-Secure values input from our users and the online community as additional key factors in helping us identify new potentially unwanted or offending behaviors, and applications that affect the user's computing experience.
If you believe an application should be classified as PUA - or alternatively, if a PUA should be reassessed - you can submit it for review at the Submit A Sample page (select 'Potentially Unwanted Application' as the Sample Type).
Potentially Unwanted Applications:
F-Secure products will automatically block Potentially Unwanted Application from running.
If you are certain that you trust the application, you may instruct the F-Secure product to exclude it from scanning. Note: you must have administrative rights to exclude a blocked file from scanning.
Unwanted Applications:
F-Secure products will automatically block an Unwanted Application from running.