BGAUpsell - What Is It?

BGAUpsell is the name of an executable file that caused some concern among users. What exactly is BGAUpsell and what does it do?

While some users were worried that BGAUpsell is some sort of malicious application, in reality the majority of cases linked with the BGAUpsell executable have to do with a legitimate file that is supplied by Microsoft.

The file can be downloaded to \Program Files (x86)\microsoft\edgeupdate\install and then subsequently copied automatically to \windows\temp\mubstemp. The file produces a small pop-up window that invites users to switch to Microsoft's Bing search engine inside their copy of the Chrome browser.

This is a very common occurrence, especially for users running Windows 11. While there may be malicious actors using the same filename, in the majority of cases BGAUpsell is a legitimate Microsoft file and it only produces the pop-up window inviting users to switch their Chrome search engine to Bing.

Naturally, the file will not be picked up as malicious by Windows Defender.

What Are False Positives in Anti-Virus Protection?

False positives in antivirus protection refer to instances where an antivirus program incorrectly identifies a legitimate and harmless file or application as malicious. In other words, the antivirus software generates a "positive" detection for a threat that doesn't actually exist, hence the term "false positive."

False positives can have several implications:

Disruption of Operations: If an antivirus software flags a critical system file or a legitimate application as malicious, it might lead to system errors, crashes, or the inability to use essential software.

Loss of Productivity: When antivirus software generates false positive alerts, it can consume valuable time and resources as IT personnel investigate the flagged file or application, even though it is not actually malicious.

Inaccurate Reputation: Frequent false positives can lead users to disregard legitimate alerts from their antivirus software, which could expose their systems to real threats.

Software Conflicts: Antivirus software might falsely identify certain software components or libraries as malicious, causing conflicts with other programs or applications.

Frustration and Trust Issues: Users may become frustrated if they consistently encounter false positive detections, leading them to lose trust in the antivirus software's effectiveness.

Overhead: False positives require additional resources for analysis and verification, increasing the load on IT staff and possibly slowing down the overall security workflow.

Antivirus programs use a variety of methods to detect malware, including signature-based detection, behavior analysis, heuristics, and machine learning. While these methods are designed to identify and block real threats, they are not perfect and can sometimes lead to false positives due to factors like software updates, file compression, obfuscation techniques, or simply a flawed algorithm.