PUP

The term was created by McAfee, the Internet Security company, because marketing firms objected to having their products called "spyware": in the view of such firms, all the information necessary for informed consent is included in the download agreement. It is widely recognized, however, that many if not most users fail to read a download agreement in sufficient detail to understand exactly what they are downloading.

McAfee differentiates PUPs from other types of malware, such as viruses, Trojans, and worms, which can be safely assumed to be unwanted by the user.

Read more about PUP: - McAfee offers a data sheet about a PUP. - Eightball & Thundercloud rant about "The New Politically Correct Internet."

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know. Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

BROWSE BY TAG Malware, Viruses, Trojans and Spyware,   Information Security Threats,   VIEW ALL TAGS

Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT How to defend against rogue DHCP server malware Rogue DHCP server malware is a new twist on an old concept. The good news is that defenses exist; the bad news is that many organizations haven't... New Trojan stealing FTP credentials, attacking FTP websites A new Trojan has collected up to 80,000 unique FTP server logins and is injecting malicious code into thousands of FTP websites. Cybercriminals exploit Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett deaths Security researchers report malicious spam, poisoned search engine results just hours after the deaths of pop star Michael Jackson and actress Farrah...

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary bot worm  (SearchSecurity.com) A bot worm is a self-replicating malware program that resides in current memory, turns infected computers into zombies (or bots) and transmits itself... directory traversal  (SearchSecurity.com) Directory traversal is a form of HTTP exploit in which a hacker uses the software on a Web server to access data in a directory other than the...