InstallCore | |
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Developer(s) | IronSource |
Initial release | 2009 |
Website | www |
InstallCore (stylized as installCore) was an installation and content distribution platform created by ironSource, including a software development kit (SDK) for Windows and Mac OS X. [1] The program allowed those using it for distribution to include monetization by advertisements or charging for installation, and made its installations invisible to the user and its anti-virus software. [2]
The platform and its programs have been rated potentially unwanted programs (PUP) or potentially unwanted applications (PUA) by anti-malware product vendors since 2014, [3] and by Windows Defender Antivirus since 2015. [4]
The platform was primarily designed for efficient web-based deployment of various types of application software. As of August 2012 [update] , InstallCore was managing 100 million installations every month, offering services for paid, unpaid, and free software by using the SDK version. [5]
The InstallCore team introduced the first version of the SDK at the beginning of 2011. [6] The SDK was a fork of the FoxTab installer and had only basic Installation features.
InstallCore was discontinued as part of a company flotation in late 2020. [7]
InstallCore and its software packages have been classified as potentially unwanted programs (PUP) or potentially unwanted applications (PUA), by anti-malware product vendors [3] and Windows Defender Antivirus [4] from 2014–2015 onwards, with many stating that it installs adware and other additional PUPs. [8] Malwarebytes identified the program as "a family of bundlers that installs more than one application on the user's computer". [9] It has been described as "crossing the line into full-blown malware" and a "nasty Trojan". [10]