When does Webroot detect Malware ?

@ wrote:
I am confused.
My understanding is that Webroot does not take any action until a file or process starts to behave in a manner considered to be malware.
 
Does this mean that Webroot will alow an infected file (be it a trojan, virus, whatever) to load and be saved, and only complain when  program start to behave in a suspicious way ?
 
The reason that I ask this is:
I purchased Webrrot on 19 August 2014
On 21 August 2014, I ran a Webroot Scan with no issues.
 
Just for peace of mind sake, I also ran an anti malware bytes scan which found a heap of 'infected files' named 'Price.Optional.PriceGong.A' which is apparently a PUP.
 
This really made me feel uneasy.   The coincidence of the date of the infection and when I installed Webroot was too much of a co-incidence to be 'chance'
 
I had to use anti malware bytes to remove this PUP.
 
The pupose of this question is try to understand if I need to be alarmed, and to ask for help to fathom out why this occurred.
 
Many thanks indeed.

Hi shotbowl,
Please read this and hopefully you can understand more afterwards!;)
 
What you are seeing and describing sounds like it may be what we on the Community refer to as a PUA. (Potentially Unwanted Application.) These are very annoying at best in that they cause pop-us, redirect your browser home page, and other behavior that may slow down the computer and direct ads your way, but they are not actually doing anything bad like damaging files or stealing information. Often they are installed intentionally by you the user as browser add-ons for various tasks such as quick search tools.. but they also come with the result of added annoying pop-ups and ads. Other times they 'piggy back' with other software that you installed, or try to 'sneak' onto your system entirely.
 
WSA does detect and remove many PUA's, and more are being added, but WSA does not detect all of them. A simple browser add-on with PUA behavior that is easy to identify and easy to remove is not likely to be detected and removed by WSA. Those that are intentionally difficult to locate and remove are. Please see THIS LINK for more information regarding Webroot's stance on these annoying programs.
 
For those that are not detected by WSA, please see this KB Article. It has some easy to follow directions on locating and removing PUA's. You may also want to submit a Trouble Ticket, especially if you cannot remove it easily from the directions in the KB Article.
 
For those that ARE detected by WSA, but cannot be removed automatically, you can submit a Trouble Ticket.  Webroot Support will help you get these annoying 'crapware' off your computer at no extra charge, and the additional examples may help to better automatic removal of that particular PUA for all users in the future.
 
To make sure that your WSA is checking for PUA's with the best proficiently, it sometimes helps to reset the PUA detection within WSA's settings. For PUA's that had previously been scanned and determined to be OK, but have since been added to detection/removal, you may want to complete the following steps:
 

• Open Webroot SecureAnywhere
• Click on ‘Advanced Settings’ from the top right
• Select ‘Scan Settings’ from the left side
• Unselect the option “Detect Potentially Unwanted Applications”
• Click on the Save button (you may have to enter in a CAPTCHA)
• Reselect the option to “Detect Potentially Unwanted Applications”
• Click on the Save button
• Run another scan with Webroot and remove any items that get detected.

To help avoid PUA's in the future, remember to read all of the information when installing or updating software (Adobe downloads often have those "extra special offers"attached... PUA'S!: often the PUA included will be mentioned, and you can opt out of installing it.  Those check boxes you see? Usually only one of them is for the User Agreement of the software you want, the others are for the junk you don't.
 
 I hope this helps you both understand, and resolve the problem and if not please let us know!
 
 
Thank you!
 
Have aGreat Day!
 

Thank you Sherry and Rakanisheu for your replies.
I really do appreciate the time and effort that yu put intoproviding help.
Thank you.