We all use some sort of anti-spyware application on our system either for real time protection or to conduct periodic scans for any malware that may have been installed. A lot of us use several different ones as no single application seems to catch everything. Out of the vast array of available products some stand out as being so incredibly bad that no one would choose voluntarily to use them. These are the Rogue Anti-Spyware applications.

To be classified as rogue an application will conform to one or more of the following characteristics:

Fail to provide proven reliable anti-spyware protection
Produce excessive or ridiculous false positive detections
Use deceptive or high-pressure sales tactics to generate sales to the unwary
Make use of threat detections from other applications without benefit of license (copyright infringement)
Install adware/spyware itself when installed