Mcafee how does it work

Unfortunately, these protections are only available to US users. After you create your account and fill in your personal information, McAfee starts monitoring the dark web for any leaks of your sensitive data. You can also set up Change of Address Monitoring to watch out for any attempts to redirect your mail. There are a few different levels of identity theft protection offered by McAfee. Auto-renewal Total Protection plans also add monitoring the dark web for 55 pieces of PII including phone numbers and more.

All of these statistics are logged, allowing users to analyze what factors are impacting their CPU performance, which is very useful for both gamers and non-gamers. The anti-spam feature may have been useful a decade ago, but Gmail and other prominent email services all offer excellent anti-spam protections. The vulnerability scanner is another really useful tool — it analyzes all of the apps on your device, and gives a notification if you need to update any of your programs this is especially important because of the growing threat of zero-day attacks and software exploits in McAfee currently offers 4 different pricing tiers for its Total Protection plans, and its Multi-Device and Family plans are both available for a massive bargain for users that buy the 2-year subscription plans.

Also, all McAfee plans include some extra features which are available only to the customers who subscribe for auto-renewal the VPN, ID theft protection, and Gamer Security.

Those features include:. Plus, McAfee offers huge discounts for users who subscribe for 2 years, making it one of the best deals around. McAfee Ultimate Coverage is an excellent plan for users with a large number of devices — in addition to offering all of the features of the previous plan, it will cover as many devices as you install it on I can confirm I was able to install it on 22 devices during my testing.

This plan is a great option for users with a large number of devices, as well as users who want their identity theft protection backed up by a substantial insurance policy. Immediately after installation, McAfee offered to run an antivirus scan, which only took about 45 minutes on my PC. Clicking on each button brings you to a new window that lists the main features for each category. You can access a range of different options by clicking on each button. I had some frustration finding the system tune-up features, and I wish that the Gamer Security and Safe Family apps were included in the McAfee dashboard, but overall McAfee has designed an antivirus program that bundles over a dozen separate features in an intuitive and easy-to-use package.

You can activate some tools using the buttons on the screen, and the rest can be accessed from the menu at the top right corner. McAfee detected all of the Android-specific malware on my device after a 10 minute scan. I was pretty impressed with the speed and accuracy of this scan — many competitors fail to catch files like rootkits, adware, and data-gathering spyware apps.

Here are some of my favorites:. I really like being able to contact McAfee via telephone for pressing concerns. When I had an issue with my plan, the phone support team was able to upgrade my plan, refund my purchase, and give me a discount on McAfee Total Protection — Family in just a few minutes.

Before I could access the chat, I had to fill in a form with my details and submit my question in writing. Then I had to wait for an available support person. Every McAfee support person I chatted with was knowledgeable, polite, and to the point. My questions were always answered in detail, and I was given a case number for every inquiry in case I needed to follow up on it.

Both McAfee support staff and the community of McAfee users are available to answer your questions there. I got my question answered in less than 5 hours — which is pretty quick! A lot of the FAQ answers only pertain to older versions of the software, which makes it basically impossible to get the answers you need without connecting with a live support person.

However, with the huge amount of useful features it provides, along with super-affordable plans for individuals and families, McAfee is one of the best value premium internet security suites on the market. Overall, McAfee is a comprehensive antivirus that comes with high-quality protection for PCs, Macs, Androids, and iOS devices, excellent customer support, and a risk-free day money-back guarantee.

McAfee offers affordable antivirus plans for individuals and families across a range of devices — you can check out the Plans and Pricing section of this review to find out more. McAfee is a reliable antivirus that you can use to scan your PC for viruses and protect it in real-time.

McAfee performed consistently well in my tests, detecting all kinds of malware, such as ransomware, spyware, cryptojackers, adware, etc. Also, this antivirus is backed by McAfee Virus Pledge. This means that the company promises to give users their money back at any time during their subscription if McAfee is unable to remove malware from their devices Norton has a similar deal with their products, as well.

McAfee also includes a real-time protection engine in all of its plans, which can block malware files — like spyware — from being downloaded or opened on your device. Mcafee slowed down my PC during a full system scan, but users can also schedule scans during the night and avoid any slowdown whatsoever. McAfee Total Protection also includes some decent system tune-up tools , which can help optimize your system startup, clean up junk files, and get a slow computer running faster.

Mobile Security also features advanced anti-theft protection. People with 5 or less devices that want coverage on multiple computers or mobile devices should check out the Multi-Device plan, while parents who want parental controls and coverage for up to 10 devices will want to buy the Family plan. US users looking to protect more than 10 devices should take a look at the Ultimate Coverage plan, which lets you install McAfee on an unlimited number of devices.

McAfee is one of the best antiviruses in Its powerful anti-malware scanner has perfect detection rates for all kinds of cyber threats, it includes excellent real-time web protections, and it comes with reliable extra features like a password manager, parental controls, identity theft protection, game booster, and much more. McAfee has easy-to-use apps with intuitive dashboards, and its customer support platforms are excellent.

That being said, McAfee is still a great value, offering budget-friendly payment plans for both individuals and families the 2-year deals are some of the most affordable plans on the market.

Ben Martens is a cybersecurity journalist with a background in internet ethics, malware testing, and public policy.

He resides in Oregon, and when he's not advocating for the rights of internet users, he's walking with his dog and inventing stories with his daughter. Professional Reviews. Please enable JavaScript in your browser. Please enter value. Consumer Support Community Contact Support. Support Home. Knowledge Center.

Document ID : TS McAfee Security Scan Plus is a free diagnostic tool that makes sure you are protected by actively checking your computer for up-to-date antivirus, firewall, and web security software. Security Scan Plus scans for threats such as malware, trojans, and unwanted programs actively running on your computer. It even scans your browser history for suspicious activity. When a scan is complete, a report provides details about the presence and status of your security protection.

If problems are detected, Security Scan Plus provides security recommendations. Security Scan Plus automatically scans your computer on a weekly basis to make sure that your antivirus software, firewall protection, and web security are active and up to date. Read the following common questions and answers to learn more about Security Scan Plus. You can click the links below to jump to each section: Contents.

And you can even add more factors if you want to up the security more. McAfee offers a range of different payment plans based on how many devices you want to protect. After that, your subscription will renew automatically and the price will likely go up. However, you may be able to negotiate a better renewal offer or cancel your subscription and rejoin as a new customer to make the most of any special offers. Total Security plan is quite useless, as LiveSafe plan costs the same, includes the same features, and offers protection for unlimited devices.

And, on the surface at least, they seem to boast an identical set of security features. McAfee LiveSafe offers protection across an unlimited number of devices. So, rather than being limited to a maximum of ten with the most expensive Total Protection plan, you can use your account to download McAfee software on as many devices as you like.

The software downloaded quickly and automatically installed the app and browser extension without me having to click on anything. Once set up, the basic functions were easy enough to find on the app and in the WebAdvisor. The Vulnerability Scanner, for example, is actually titled Update my apps and is hidden away in the PC security tab. We found when we were digging around in the gear icon, that our scheduled scans were due to take place at 4am.

As I always shut my laptop off before I go to bed, this was a bit useless to me. McAfee mobile app. And you can get the basics for free. It also scans your apps and even your Wi-Fi connection to look out for potential threats.

There are lots of more sophisticated features that you have to pay for, including a Wi-Fi guard , an app lock and Safe Web , which blocks risky websites and links. But if all you want are some basic security features, the free app is definitely a good starting point.

As you might expect, when you visit the Customer Support section of the website, there are a lot of helpful guides and answers to frequently asked questions to help you resolve your issue without having to bother a member of the McAfee support team. However, I found it extremely annoying that to qualify for an audience with a customer support agent you need to fill out a form with a lot of personal data.

It includes your first and last names, phone number, email, and verification of your email and problem descriptions. Even when your requests go through, you find out that they cannot fulfill some requests because they have to be done via phone. If you want to get a refund and want to do it via chat, you won't be able to do it.

If you do need to speak to a person, there is certainly more dedicated help available. In our testing, we found that we got through to a representative within a couple of minutes, although this may take longer during particularly busy periods. When the live chat is experiencing a high volume of requests, there will be a banner at the top of the McAfee support page warning users to expect longer wait times.

And if you really want to talk to someone, you can find a phone number buried away in the Contact Us section of the McAfee website. We particularly loved the Shredder tool and the WebAdvisor browser extension. We were very impressed by how effectively it provides online protection without impeding your internet speeds or online browsing experience. McAfee vs. Piggybacking on WebAdvisor, the Cryptojacking Blocker keeps these sites from leeching away your resources.

It suppresses cryptojacking code when found, and slides in a banner explaining what it did. There is an option to let the site use your resources regardless. Why would you do that? Because there are a few sites that openly use crypto mining for financial support, instead of relying on advertisement revenue. The PC protection page gives you access to four significant features, including antivirus scanning and firewall protection.

Web protection links to three useful components. You may be a bit disappointed to find that Identity protection in this product consists solely of a secure deletion File Shredder.

Deleting a file in Windows just sends it to the Recycle Bin, where anybody with access to your computer could pull it out. Even when you bypass or empty the bin, your deleted file data remains on your disk, subject to forensic recovery. The File Shredder tool, reached from the Identity page, overwrites files before deletion to foil forensic recovery. It offers three shred types, differing in the number of times they overwrite data before deletion.

Basic goes for two overwrites, Safe for five, and Complete for a whopping 10 overwrite passes. You can shred the Recycle Bin, or Temporary Internet Files, or any file or folder you really want permanently deleted.

As another option, you can right-click any file or folder and choose Shred from the resulting menu. A McAfee icon makes the menu choice easy to find. Secure deletion is especially important when used in conjunction with a file encryption tool like the File Lock component of McAfee Total Protection.

If you don't thoroughly delete the plaintext originals, they could be recovered using forensic software or hardware. Kaspersky Total Security goes farther, automatically offering to shred the originals after an encryption job. Indeed, I imagine many users will never find the My Network security scanner. Click the settings gear in the main window, scroll all the way to the bottom, and click Protect home network.

There it is! The My Network page lists all the devices it sees on your network, identifying them by name when it can and listing the IP address of unknowns. Using the MAC and IP addresses, a determined user can figure out which device each unknown matches and edit the name and device type in the network list. Similar scanners like the one found in Avast One and the standalone Bitdefender Home Scanner do a decidedly better job of filling in names and device types on their own. You can mark a device as an intruder, which tells McAfee to deny any attempts by that device to access your computer.

You used to be able to remotely monitor and even control the trusted device, but that feature is currently absent. The Protect more devices panel used to include an option called Unprotected devices.

This last choice displayed a list of the devices on your network that could benefit from McAfee protection but don't yet have it. My contacts state that the developers will restore this feature as soon as possible. It's not truly a different product.

But you don't get as many security features on the Mac. As noted, the Windows edition has had a thorough makeover, and an equally intensive makeover is planned for the mobile editions in a month or so. As for the Mac, my contacts indicate that it will eventually get the new look, but that other projects have higher priority.

As long as you sign up for auto-renewal, it offers the same Virus Protection Pledge as on Windows. However, McAfee has no current scores for Mac-specific malware protection from the independent testing labs.

For a full evaluation, please read my review. The Android edition is effectively the same as when I last reviewed this product. Just click the Settings gear in the Windows edition and select Protect more devices. As with all Android security products , McAfee requires a passel of permissions, but it helpfully leads you through granting everything necessary. The user interface focuses on a big Scan button, with buttons for four of the many other features below. Swipe up for a list of your McAfee-equipped devices, color-coded to show security status.

You can click for a more detailed look at status, though you can't fix security problems remotely. Tap the three-line menu icon at top right for access to all features. The testers at AV-Test Institute offer Android security apps up to six points each for effective protection, small performance impact, and low false positives, with six points available in each category. Like most products in the latest test, McAfee took the full 18 points.

Reports from AV-Comparatives list the percentage of Android malware thwarted. Researchers at MRG-Effitas report separately on early detection and on detection at the time of installation. They also report separately on the handling of lower-risk PUAs Potentially Unwanted Programs , and break down results for categories such as Trojans and Spyware.

Last time around, McAfee came close, with But in the latest test, McAfee fell to When you tap the big Scan button, McAfee scans to make sure your Wi-Fi is secure and quickly checks your apps. The scan appears to include the previously separate deep scan, which looks at preinstalled apps, files, and messages. Having a separate deep scan never made much sense, as both scans finished in just seconds.

To get full advantage of McAfee's Android anti-theft features, you need to give the program access to your camera and location. As with most such services, you must also give McAfee Device Administrator status, so it can remotely wipe a hopelessly lost device. With these features configured, you can deal with a lost or stolen phone from the McAfee online console. Click on the device that's in trouble and enter the security PIN you defined on that device.

If you've just misplaced the device around the house, you can make it sound an alarm. By observation, the alarm on an iOS device makes a shrill screaming noise, but the Android alarm is a jolly, catchy little tune.

Only when you click the It's Still Lost button do you get the scary options to wipe the phone's data or reset it to factory settings. Here you can also choose to track its location for a month, and to back up your personal data to the McAfee cloud. Note that due to changes by Google, the backed-up personal data no longer includes call logs and text messages.

My test Pixel 4 runs Android 10, so no Thief Cam for me. A sneak thief who picks up your unlocked phone still won't be able to read your email or place orders on Amazon, provided you've locked them up with App Lock.