Question

A third-party security solution detected a PUP(potentially unwanted program) on a machine protected by Acronis Cyber Protect. Acronis Cyber Protect did not detect this PUP and did not generate any alert about it. Why?

Description

Some anti-malware tools detect Adware or PUP`s (Potential Unwanted Programs) in different ways according to internal Cyber Security vendor policies.

Acronis Cyber Protect detects unsafe and suspicious PUPs and generates alerts for them. The threat name starts with AdWare and Application.

Many Adware or PUPs are not harmful but may be unwanted on the system or by the IT administrator. Generally, PUPs are not designed to penetrate your device to steal personal data or alter operating system settings. They can be intentionally downloaded by the end-user and for their use case, they might need this application. Each Cybersecurity vendor has its own internal policy on what unwanted applications they detect. Some cybersecurity companies are more focused on malware, while others are dedicated to detecting and removing PUPs.

If some application is detected as PUP by another cybersecurity vendor and not detected by Acronis Cyber Protect, then most likely the application does not pose any threat or inconvenience.

More information

A lot of software contains EULA that must be accepted explicitly by the user. This software is usually is not detected as PUPs by most of the vendors