McAfee > Theat Center > Virus Detail Page

Overview

This is a Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP) detection. It is not a virus or trojan. PUPs are any piece of software which a reasonably security-or privacy-minded computer user may want to be informed of.

Characteristics

This is not a virus or trojan. It is a direct-marketing adware application. This application may generate extra pop-up ads while using Internet Explorer.

This kind of application generally comes bundled with another program, which usually discloses the fact that it is ad-supported.  Users agree to have the Adware installed in the license agreement, although they may not realise at first that this file was packaged with the product they installed.

It is a group of software components that uses a keyword service to enhance internet searches and which allows users to enter a "common name" in the web browser instead of the full URL.

The following Registry keys are added:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "winnet"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CommonName

Users who would like to check for the presence of potentially unwanted programs on their system should run the command line scanner with the /PROGRAM switch.
Please note that VirusScan 7, and higher, has an option that enables users to detect this kind of program automatically (see below).

Symptoms

Presence of the registry keys listed above and unexpected browsing enhancements.

Method of Infection

N/A - this is not a virus.

Removal

Instructions on Enabling/Disabling Detection and Removal of Potentially Unwanted Programs

Variants

Variants

N/A

All Information

Overview -

This is a Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP) detection. It is not a virus or trojan. PUPs are any piece of software which a reasonably security-or privacy-minded computer user may want to be informed of.

Characteristics

Characteristics -

This is not a virus or trojan. It is a direct-marketing adware application. This application may generate extra pop-up ads while using Internet Explorer.

This kind of application generally comes bundled with another program, which usually discloses the fact that it is ad-supported.  Users agree to have the Adware installed in the license agreement, although they may not realise at first that this file was packaged with the product they installed.

It is a group of software components that uses a keyword service to enhance internet searches and which allows users to enter a "common name" in the web browser instead of the full URL.

The following Registry keys are added:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "winnet"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CommonName

Users who would like to check for the presence of potentially unwanted programs on their system should run the command line scanner with the /PROGRAM switch.
Please note that VirusScan 7, and higher, has an option that enables users to detect this kind of program automatically (see below).

Symptoms

Symptoms -

Presence of the registry keys listed above and unexpected browsing enhancements.

Method of Infection

Method of Infection -

N/A - this is not a virus.

Removal -

Removal -

Instructions on Enabling/Disabling Detection and Removal of Potentially Unwanted Programs

Variants

Variants -

N/A