Recent news reports, for example, warned users that they should get rid of adware apps Mintcast 3.0.1 and Shell&Services, which not only display unwanted pop-up ads, but also switch off safe browsing in Firefox.
Of course this opens up your computer to all kinds of online threats. Called PUPs (potentially unwanted programs) in security lingo, such apps usually come attached to freeware packages and the user often has no idea that they have been installed on the computer.
