MCAFEE ADWARE! Please Read!

[Randy B. Singer]

There is a very annoying bit of adware going around. It constantly shows you pop-up messages telling you that your McAffee anti-virus software subscription is up (even if you never had one.) It will even show you pop-ups outside of your Web browser. What it's trying to do is to funnel you to a Web site to get you to give them credit card information. Otherwise, however, this adware doesn't harm your Mac in any way.

It's easy to remove this adware, but even easier to avoid it completely.

To avoid it, if you use Safari, in Safari open Preferences in the Safari menu. Click on Websites. Click on Notifications in the column on the left. UNCHECK: Allow Websites To Ask For Permission To Send Notifications.

If you use Brave, in Brave, Brave menu —> Preferences —> Privacy and Security —> Site & Shield Settings —> Notifications —> set Don’t Allow Sites To Send Notifications

go back to Site & Shield Settings —> Popups and Redirects —> set Don't allow sites to send pop-ups or use redirects.

If anyone is hit by the McAfee adware, just post here. I'll give instructions on how to remove it. So far, I've only seen Mac users running Safari get it.

 

[newbutter]

Thanks for the heads up! That's a really useful piece of advice.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

The issue made it to MacInTouch today:

https://www.macintouch.com/post/32888/nasty-notifications-trick-safari-users-and-maybe-others/

 

[dufchick]

I always learn so much from reading these forums, thank you!!!

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I always learn so much from reading these forums, thank you!!!

My pleasure!

Also check out my newly updated Slowdown Solutions page:

Macintosh Slowdown Solutions

There is a lot of stuff there that you won't be able to easily find anywhere else.

 

[dufchick]

Very interesting information about Brave Browser. I will definitely look into using this. Luckily I have not had any problems but I always want to be safer. I notice occasionally that certain times, YouTube will show a message that says this page is using a lot of resources (not sure of the exact wording but its close) but when I close the page, everything returns to normal. Other than that, Safari works well. I am a little concerned about the 'Fingerprinting blocked' listed on the comparison chart of the Brave webpage. Does this mean that there is tracking software on Safari that can capture my fingerprint from my device?

 

[Randy B. Singer]

....Does this mean that there is tracking software on Safari that can capture my fingerprint from my device?

There is tracking software in just about EVERY Web site you visit. (Brave is telling me that even Mac-Forums has two trackers that it blocked!) Some browsers block that tracking software, others don't. Brave does the most comprehensive job of blocking all the spyware used to track you. Safari isn't even close. See:

12 Secure Browsers That Protect Your Privacy in 2025

A secure browser that protects your privacy is essential for staying safe online and keeping your data secure from third parties.

restoreprivacy.com

Google's Chrome browser is the worst. It is chocked full of it's own spyware. That's Google's business model. They give you lots of neat services seemingly for free, but they use those services to spy on you, gather your personal information, and then aggregate and sell it.

6 links that will show you what Google knows about you

Want to find out all the things Google knows about you? Here are 6 links that will show you some of the data Google has about you.

medium.com

Clicking this link lets you see what Google thinks it knows about you based on your search history — and some of its predictions are eerily accurate

By clicking a link from Google's account settings page, users can find out what the tech giant thinks it knows about them.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[dufchick]

WOW. But funny, all google knows about me apparently is my YouTube search and watch history since I never use anything else but Safari. Really interesting information here. I think I have no choice but to at least try Brave and see if I can get used to it. Thank you for all this information!

 

[Randy B. Singer]

.... all google knows about me apparently is my YouTube search and watch history since I never use anything else but Safari.

Do you use Google search? Gmail? Any Web site with Google ads? (Which is just about all of them.)

If so, Google knows a lot about you. Check out:

What Does Google Know About Me?

It took me under 30 seconds to determine that Google knew way too much about me. Proof?

medium.com

Here’s How to Find Out What Google Knows About You

Or at least, what it thinks it knows about you

medium.com

 

[Rod]

I started using Brave Browser in 2018, it was the best ad blocking and anti tracking browser at the time and put simply it still is.
It's security settings have evolved a little too but it remains low on system resource demands and fast.
Some articles I have read name Hand Off as one of the advantages of Safari but Brave on my iPhone appears in the Dock of my MBP when active so I can move seamlessly from writing a post on my iPhone and complete it on my laptop.
I cannot find another browser that matches Brave for Security, Ad Blocking and all round performance and believe me I've tried.
The only reason I believe that it doesn't rate higher on survey sites is because the big 4 pay to have their products put first.

Addit: Brave have just introduced a feature called BraveTalk. It's a live encrypted video conferencing feature free for four people or less built in to the browser.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

TidBits is about to write a more in-depth article about notification adware (which is what the McAfee adware is.) I'll post a link when the article is available.

 

[dufchick]

Do you use Google search? Gmail? Any Web site with Google ads? (Which is just about all of them.)

If so, Google knows a lot about you. Check out:

What Does Google Know About Me?

It took me under 30 seconds to determine that Google knew way too much about me. Proof?

medium.com

Here’s How to Find Out What Google Knows About You

Or at least, what it thinks it knows about you

medium.com

I have a gmail account, don't use it anymore but I get junk mail still coming in. I guess there are google things that are attached to my name, geesh. I am getting used to Brave, not liking the fact that I have to look up all my passwords, so it's time now to think about a password manager. Someone on the NextDoor app posted that she had a breakin in her house, but the police could not find any sign of breaking in. It turns out someone hacked her Ring app somehow and her garage app. It's a different world of criminals we are dealing with now.

 

[Rod]

You might wonder why I said "I cannot find another browser that matches Brave for Security, Ad Blocking and all round performance and believe me I've tried".

I've found that many people are reluctant, even actively resistant to try new software, especially apps that are integral to their daily computer use like email clients and web browsers.

I suppose it's just my nature to enjoy the process of trialing new software, comparing it to other or newer versions of the app.
As a result I'm always on the lookout for new entrants into the field of day to day apps like email clients and web browsers.

I prefer apps that work across platforms for continuity on my portable devices.
Currently I use Spark as my email client and Brave as my web browser with DuckDuck Go as my search engin because they are good and suit my needs.

In my experience there is no problem making a gradual transition from my current app, be it a web browser or an email client, despite all the arguments to the contrary like what about my thousands of saved emails or my saved passwords, bookmarks, preferences ect, ect.
To me it's just like a bank, if they increase their charges or don't offer features other banks offer then change.

There are also rumours that Apple may have to abandon it's WebKit requirement for iOS browsers meaning desktop like versions for portable devices so, as usual things continue to change and I for one am happy to change with them.

 

[dufchick]

Rod you can put me on the reluctant side, but not resistant. I’ve been using this brave browser for a day now and I do like it. I will just have to keep putting in my passwords.

 

[Rod]

Good for you, I do keep some passwords in Brave for commonly used sites (like this one) and for convenience that's fine but the majority of them are in my password manager.
If you have any questions about settings feel free to ask, I think I've gotten mine about as good as they can be for my purposes.

 

[dufchick]

Good for you, I do keep some passwords in Brave for commonly used sites (like this one) and for convenience that's fine but the majority of them are in my password manager.
If you have any questions about settings feel free to ask, I think I've gotten mine about as good as they can be for my purposes.

Thank you!!!

 

[Randy B. Singer]

TidBits is about to write a more in-depth article about notification adware (which is what the McAfee adware is.) I'll post a link when the article is available.

It's out!:

How to Identify and Eliminate Abusive Web Notifications

How to Identify and Eliminate Abusive Web Notifications - TidBITS

There’s nothing new about notification adware, system-level alerts from malicious websites that try to lure you into sharing login credentials, credit card info, or other personal information. A recent uptick in reports caused Adam Engst to explore the topic more deeply to help readers learn to...

tidbits.com

 

[Alan_B]

Rod you can put me on the reluctant side, but not resistant. I’ve been using this brave browser for a day now and I do like it. I will just have to keep putting in my passwords.

You can import settings including passwords from Firefox and Edge, assuming you have either or both installed. You can save Safari bookmarks to an html file and import them. I don't believe you can import the passwords csv exported from Safari. A password manager seems a good option though.

 

[Rod]

Alan, you are correct re bookmarks, I tend to use safari as a library of all my sites. As for passwords well I only do a few sites at a time but as I use a password manager the whole process is fairly easy. If I want the browser to remember the password after logging I can make that decision. Alternatively most P/W Managers have browser extensions so you can access them straight from the browser window.