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McAfee Antivirus
Antivirus software

McAfee Antivirus is a popular antivirus software developed by McAfee, formerly known as Intel Security and Network Associates. Initially offered as a standalone product, it is now often bundled within packages such as McAfee Antivirus Plus, McAfee Internet Security, and McAfee Total Protection. The McAfee+ suite delivers comprehensive protection across multiple platforms including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and ChromeOS. It features integrated antivirus, firewall, and safe browsing tools, alongside advanced identity and privacy safeguards like identity monitoring, credit monitoring, identity theft coverage, secure VPN, and AI-powered Scam Detector, making it an all-in-one security solution for personal data and device protection.

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VirusScan Enterprise

Before McAfee completed the sale of its enterprise business it also produced an enterprise-level product named VirusScan Enterprise which was designed this for use on larger networks to make management of antivirus software on multiple computers easier. Unlike the home-user edition, the Enterprise edition consisted of a client application for networked computers. Clients could be controlled using the included ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO), which was a unified console that could control VirusScan and other McAfee products. Support for VirusScan Enterprise ended on December 31, 2021.

McAfee Antivirus for Mac

In November 2008 McAfee announced4 VirusScan for Mac OS. (Earlier versions used the name Virex, developed by HJC Software.) McAfee Antivirus for Mac is now only available as part of McAfee Antivirus Plus, McAfee Internet Security, McAfee Total Protection, McAfee McAfee+ Premium, McAfee+ Advanced, McAfee+ Ultimate,  and McAfee Business Protection, and includes a firewall, VPN, Safe browsing and a password manager. It supports macOS 11.x and higher.5

Controversies

Independent test results

Until approximately 2016 McAfee suffered from poorer malware detection test results and a larger impact on PC performance.6

Since end of 2016 with the introduction of AI and machine learning detection technologies initially called McAfee Real-Protect, the test results have changed significantly though. AV-TEST (Germany) awarded McAfee with a TOP Product certification in the last 29 tests,7 SE Labs (UK) gave McAfee an AAA rating in the last 26 tests8 and AV-Comparatives has been certifying McAfee win an ADVANCED+ rating in its Real-World Protection tests since July 2022. AV-Comparatives has also rated McAfee as ADVANCED+ in almost all Performance tests since October 2016.9

In January 2025 AV-Comparatives published it's 2024 Summary Report in which it awarded McAfee with two Gold awards: the 2024 Real-World Protection Gold Award and the Best Overall Speed Gold Award.10

AV-Comparatives’ Real-World Protection Test measures a product’s ability to combat malware under everyday conditions. Winners of this test, such as McAfee, provide high levels of protection with minimal false alarms, sparing users the stress and burden of identifying whether something is harmful.

The PC Performance Test evaluates the impact of a security product on system performance. McAfee showed the lowest impact on PC performance of all tested vendors throughout 2024.11

Customer support criticisms

2010 reboot problem

On April 21, 2010, beginning approximately at 2 PM GMT, an erroneous virus definition file update from McAfee affected millions of computers worldwide running Windows XP Service Pack 3. The update resulted in the removal of a Windows system file (svchost.exe) on those machines, causing machines to lose network access and, in some cases, to enter a reboot loop. McAfee rectified this by removing and replacing the faulty DAT file, version 5958, with an emergency DAT file (version 5959) and posted a fix for the affected machines in its consumer "KnowledgeBase".1213

2012 update issues

An August 2012 update to McAfee antivirus caused the protection to become turned off and users to lose internet connections. McAfee was criticized for not notifying users promptly of the issues when they learned about it.1415

Current standing

Over the years McAfee product reviews have been steadily improving with PCMag rating McAfee+ with 4 stars out of 516,TechAdvisor awarding McAfee security with an Editors' Choice award,17 and Tom's Guide awarding McAfee+ Premium as a 'Tom's Guide Recommended' product with 4 stars out of 5.18

See also

References

  1. "McAfee AntiVirus Plus". PCMAG. Retrieved 8 April 2018. https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2469309,00.asp ↩

  2. "McAfee LiveSafe". PCMAG. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2018. https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2470466,00.asp ↩

  3. "Sky Offers 'Free' Broadband". CIO. IDG Communications, Inc. July 18, 2006. https://www.cio.com/article/258618/networking-sky-offers-free-broadband.html ↩

  4. "McAfee, Inc. Releases VirusScan Software for Leopard". Mcafee.com. Archived from the original on 2009-03-01. Retrieved 2010-11-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20090301071029/http://mcafee.com/us/about/press/corporate/2007/20071129_164500_x.html ↩

  5. "McAfee® - about - McAfee, Inc. Releases VirusScan Software for Leopard". 2009-03-01. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 2025-01-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20090301071029/http://mcafee.com/us/about/press/corporate/2007/20071129_164500_x.html ↩

  6. Virus Bulletin (registration required) http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/results?display=tests ↩

  7. "Test antivirus software McAfee". www.av-test.org. Retrieved 2025-01-31. https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/manufacturer/mcafee/ ↩

  8. "Security Test Reports". SE LABS. Retrieved 2025-01-31. https://selabs.uk/reports/?sectors=consumer ↩

  9. "McAfee". AV-Comparatives. Retrieved 2025-01-31. https://www.av-comparatives.org/vendors/mcafee/ ↩

  10. "Independent Tests of Anti-Virus Software Summary Report 2024" (PDF). AV Comparatives. 19 December 2024. https://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/avc_sum_2024.pdf ↩

  11. "Independent Tests of Anti-Virus Software Summary Report 2024" (PDF). AV Comparatives. 19 December 2024. https://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/avc_sum_2024.pdf ↩

  12. "McAfee DAT 5958 Update Issues". 21 April 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2010. http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=8656 ↩

  13. "Botched McAfee update shutting down corporate XP machines worldwide". 21 April 2010. Archived from the original on 22 April 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100422205355/http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/21/mcafee-update--shutting-down-xp-machines/ ↩

  14. "McAfee antivirus update causes problems for home and enterprise customers". 21 August 2012. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9230447/McAfee_antivirus_update_causes_problems_for_home_and_enterprise_customers ↩

  15. "McAfee Web Connection Issues with No Communication". Archived from the original on 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2012-11-13. https://archive.today/20130204013228/http://www.techiediy.com/mcafee-creates-internet-connection-problems-with-no-communication ↩

  16. "McAfee+ Review". PCMAG. 2024-10-07. Retrieved 2025-01-31. https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/mcafee-plus ↩

  17. Inghe, Mattias. "McAfee Security Antivirus VPN review: Peace of mind". Tech Advisor. Retrieved 2025-01-31. https://www.techadvisor.com/article/2459952/mcafee-security-antivirus-vpn-review.html ↩

  18. John Brandon (2025-04-30). "McAfee+ Premium antivirus review". Tom's Guide. Retrieved 2025-05-16. https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/online-security/mcafee-premium-antivirus-review ↩