PUPs - Cute name, disastrous results

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I've talked about PUPs before, but if you missed the series of articles and have ever wondered what a PUP is, here it is: PUP stands for Potentially Unwanted Program, and is considered to be a form of malware. While they are not quite the same thing as standard viruses, they’re still not a good thing. PUPs are those programs that scoot in almost completely unannounced through downloads, usually as software bundles. Once installed, they will usually start harassing users pretty aggressively about one thing or another: your memory is low, you have outdated drivers that need to be fixed immediately, your system is insecure, etc. etc. (and as you might have guessed, these are all false and they want money to “fix” said problems). They may also start hijacking your browser to give you funny search engines, ads galore, and redirect you to websites you didn’t ask for. Sadly, even Macs are no longer immune from this problem. PUPs can be hard to catch before the fact, and even harder to remove after the fact, so I have a couple of recommendations to keep these things off your system. My number one recommendation is to use Chrome with Adblock exclusively. This particular combination will fend off a lot of unwanted drive-by installs. After that, I recommend fine-tuning your antivirus to actively look for PUPs in its sensitivity settings. Finally, I highly recommend installing a little program called Unchecky. This small program runs in the background, making sure that nothing tries to slip in when you’re installing something downloaded from the internet. It does a great job, and it’s free!

​If you think you might have a few PUPs on your system, and aren't sure how to get rid of them, give me a call!  My standard virus removal service will eradicate those pesky PUPs, and any other viruses or malware you may have.  And if you contact me and mention this blog entry, I'll perform the virus removal service for FREE, with the purchase of a year of my ProActive Care - Antivirus service.  The antivirus service I use includes PUP detection right out of the box.  And, you'll have peace of mind knowing that your PC Tech is constantly monitoring the system and making sure it's eliminating threats to your computer.  CLICK HERE to take advantage of this offer!  I look forward to hearing from you!

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