

Advertising software that displays advertisements or promotions, including software that inserts advertisements to webpages.The term PUA can also refer to an application that has a poor reputation, as assessed by Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, due to certain kinds of undesirable behavior. PUA is not considered a virus, malware, or other type of threat, but it might perform actions on endpoints that adversely affect endpoint performance or use. Tip of the Day: Did you know you can use Windows 10´s built in antivirus Microsoft Defender also with scheduled scans? In our tutorial we give you step-by-step instructions on how to program your personal scan-schedule to keep your free of malware.Potentially unwanted applications (PUA) are a category of software that can cause your machine to run slowly, display unexpected ads, or at worst, install other software that might be unexpected or unwanted. You can do this via Windows Security app > App & browser control > Reputation-based protection. Because Microsoft is reversing the process and making the blocker on by default, you may want to turn it off. However, it will not be removed so you may get pinged with more notifications. It is worth noting until you take action on the notification, Microsoft Defender will continue to block the PUA. Managing Potentially Unwanted Applications is done through the Virus & threat protection section of Windows Security (Settings app). Again, the action may be nothing if the app question is something you want to use. Microsoft Defender spots PUAs and sends a notification to the user to take action. It means an app is potentially unwanted but not necessarily dangerous or bad for the user. It is worth noting, the “P” in PUA is important. An example of a potentially unwanted app is an application that has been bundled in with a program you may want to download. PUAs are apps that have been installed on a machine without the knowledge or consent of the user. This means PUAs will be blocked automatically, and users will need to toggle the feature off it they don’t want it. Microsoft says it will now turn this feature on by default. However, it has been turned off my default, with users needing to choose the option to prevent PUAs installing. Since last year, Microsoft Defender has held a feature that allows users to block Potentially Unwanted Applications. Microsoft is now making a tweak to this feature to make it automatic on Windows 10. Since the release of the Windows Update last year, a feature for blocking PUAs has been available. Microsoft has been giving users full control over how Windows 10 handles Potentially Unwanted Applications.
