Greyware

Greyware is an umbrella term for software whose behaviour does not meet the strict definition of malware but is unwanted, intrusive, or risky. Typical examples include aggressive adware, trackware, remote-administration tools used outside their intended context, certain crypto miners, joke programs, dialers, and questionable system "optimizers." Vendors often flag greyware in a separate category from outright malware to give administrators control over policy. Risks include privacy loss, performance degradation, security weakening through unnecessary services, and serving as a stepping stone for attackers. Defences include application allow-listing, enterprise policy management, security solutions with PUA/greyware detection, and user education on installation choices.