There are many legitimate programs which serve to simplify the administration of networked computers. However, in the wrong hands, they may be misused for malicious purposes. This is why ESET has created this special category. Our clients now have the option to choose whether the antivirus system should or should not detect such threats.
"Potentially unsafe applications” is the classification used for commercial, legitimate software. This classification includes programs such as remote access tools, password-cracking applications, and keyloggers (a program recording each keystroke a user types).

If you find that there is a potentially unsafe application present and running on your computer (and you did not install it), please consult your network administrator or remove the application.

Potentially unwanted applications are not necessarily intended to be malicious, but may affect the performance of your computer in a negative way. Such applications usually require consent for installation. If they are present on your computer, your system behaves differently (compared to the state before their installation). The most significant changes are:

• new windows you haven’t seen previously are opened
• activation and running of hidden processes
• increased usage of system resources
• changes in search results
• application communicates with remote servers