Spark and McAfee

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eracode

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#302092 28-Oct-2022 09:01

Our fibre broadband is provided by Spark who have recently sent me an email and a follow-up urging me to sign up for free McAfee virus protection.

We have all Apple gear - iPhones, iPads and MBP.

I'm not sure whether I want to, or should, do this and I would welcome comments and advice.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

old3eyes

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#2989009 28-Oct-2022 09:18

I think that they send this to all Spark customers. I've had several inviting me to sign up. No thanx.

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Old3eyes

linw

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#2989010 28-Oct-2022 09:19

I'm darn sure I wouldn't take up their "generous" offer.

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#2989019 28-Oct-2022 09:36

It's McAfee, so the correct answer is no.

eracode

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#2989075 28-Oct-2022 10:01

Three 'noes' but I'm also interested in whys.

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old3eyes

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#2989085 28-Oct-2022 10:37

eracode:

Three 'noes' but I'm also interested in whys.

In the past McAfee and Norton were known as bloatware and in my opinion they still are, I use NOD32 and have done for years and it's very light on resources and no popups ..

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Old3eyes

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#2989092 28-Oct-2022 10:51

eracode:

Three 'noes' but I'm also interested in whys.

Despite once upon a time being a leader in the field, McAfee became almost a parody of itself at one stage, and while it's now back to being decent for the most part (separating form Intel seems to have helped), it is still not a product I could willingly recommend to anyone.

It does have some good capabilities, and a broad range of features - though most of the bits it does really well, are Windows-only so not as applicable given your Apple-oriented device list.

It's otherwise largely slow and intrusive, in my opinion.

As an antivirus product, most tests I've seen in recent years put it behind free and built-in products like Windows Defender.

Yes, the Spark offering is for the Security suite, not just Antivirus, so I guess my answer would be "if there are specific features it offers that you want, and they're not readily available from a better offering, then maybe it's worth considering'.

So, in summary, what really hurt it was it's early-mid-2000s crash from being a long-standing leader in Antivirus software to, in essence, becoming malware in and of it's own right, before turning back to the light, but I suspect many of us are yet to be swayed back.

Bung

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#2989196 28-Oct-2022 11:38

Any spam that we get seems divided between various spellings of mcafee renewal requests and non existant courier packages. Never having ever installed it makes delete even more obvious. I'd even be suspicious of these emails purporting to come from Spark.

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eracode

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#2989205 28-Oct-2022 12:17

Thanks guys.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

eracode

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#2989206 28-Oct-2022 12:19

Bung: Any spam that we get seems divided between various spellings of mcafee renewal requests and non existant courier packages. Never having ever installed it makes delete even more obvious. I'd even be suspicious of these emails purporting to come from Spark.

I was very suspicious but the emails have our full names and correct account number so I believe they're legit re source.

Despite that, I'm going to take the advice here and ignore it.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

stormcloud

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#2989216 28-Oct-2022 12:51

I have just installed it. Seems better than when I last tried it, when it was very intrusive.

I was attracted as it includes a VPN

time will tell

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#2989235 28-Oct-2022 13:56

If I was still a Microsoft Window user and did not already have an anti-virus (bloatware) installed, I still would not consider it. As Inphinity has already pointed out MS free and built-in products like Windows Defender does a fairly decent job. Also Apples own built in free security abilities (sand boxing) are, touch wood, all I basically need.

Sparks xtra mail service does a fairly decent job, though it does struggle from time to time in playing catchup 'whac-a-mole' with the cyber crooks. My 5 xtra email addresses are now too imbedded in my life to go to ALL THE TROUBLE to change to a gmail or similar email account system. If I had my time over again that is what I would have done and I now recommend it.

I know and most of todays computer generation should know not to click on emails or links or attachments within emails that have the slightest hint of suspiciousness or too good to be true, about them. Same applies to memory sticks or disc material.

Consumer NZ, in its latest September 2022 review of 35, free and paid, security products, they only recommend 7 (5 Windows & 2 Mac) and McAfee & Norton are not one of those 7.

So, like the good old used car salesman selling useless insurance add-ons so I believe is Spark with its McAfee offering. Communication costs to the average user in this country already outstrip the average costs of other essential utilities, why pay more for something that any sensible person does not need.

The price of 'peace of mind' perhaps.

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

cokemaster

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#2989350 28-Oct-2022 20:06

The McAfee offering has been in Sparks stable for over a decade at this rate. It’s a ‘useful’ value added service that makes customers more sticky, less price conscious and less likely to churn (in theory).

They do similar things with Spotify and Netflix although I suspect folks would find those more useful in this day and age.

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eracode

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#2989377 28-Oct-2022 20:59

FineWine:

My 5 xtra email addresses are now too imbedded in my life to go to ALL THE TROUBLE to change to a gmail or similar email account system. If I had my time over again that is what I would have done and I now recommend it.

Exactly where I’m at, aliases and all.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

quickymart

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#2989418 29-Oct-2022 07:18

I got this too, no interest in using it as one of my boys had it pre-installed on his new laptop, making it run as slow as hell.

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#2989444 29-Oct-2022 09:27

I never bother with av but we have one laptop that were used by various volunteers. I installed mcafee that come from Spark, it is actually quite decent and light. So if there's a need for one, it's not bad.