Grayware is Trend Micro's general classification for applications that have annoying,
undesirable, or undisclosed behaviour.
Grayware applications do not fall into any of the major threat (i.e. Virus or Trojan
horse) categories as they are subject to system functionality, as well as user debate.
Some items in the Grayware category have been linked to malicious activities, while
others are used to provide users with targeted information in terms of product announcements.
Organizations dealing with sensitive information should be generally alarmed by
the capability of any application with data gathering functionality.
The majority of grayware fall into the following classes:
- Adware
- Data Miners (Tracking Cookies)
- Dialers
- Hacking tools
- Joke programs
- Keyloggers
- Password cracking applications
- Remote Access Programs
- Spyware
Trend Micro recognizes that some users prefer to have tools to determine whether
grayware are running on their systems, and thus, provides additional options to
scan for and/or remove them.
|