I'm Positive... It's a False Positive!
Several AskBob readers have emailed me, noting that their McAfee security software was warning about “suspicious content” on AskBobRankin. I’ve checked into these reports, and I’m confident that this is a false positive. There is no malware, and no harmful or “suspicious” content on my site. Please read on for the details, and some links YOU can use to check other pages for harmful content... |
Nothing to See Here, Folks...
Yup, it was a false positive. That's the term used when a security tool incorrectly flags a web page, program or document as harmful or malicious. But how do I know this was the case?
In case you’re curious, I used all seven of the link checkers mentioned in the article
7 Quick Sites That Let You Check If a Link Is Safe and came up clean. I invite you to do the same for my site, or any other URL that you want to check out.
If you don’t want to bother with all seven, try the VirusTotal Safe Link Checker, which checks a web address (or a file) with Avira, BitDefender, Comodo, Kaspersky, Sophos, Webroot and over 70 other link-checker services all at once.
This is not the first time I’ve had my site falsely categorized as suspicious or harmful by McAfee. I wish I knew what criteria they used to make that determination. Maybe it’s an error in their algorithm. Maybe they rely on unverified human reporting. Or maybe it’s just a mistake.
Bottom line, you can safely ignore any such McAfee warnings, regarding pages on AskBobRankin. And in case you missed any recent articles, here are the most recent ones:
- Check Out These Windows 10 Security Settings
- Geekly Update - 02 June 2021
- Pipelines, Ransomware, and The Solution
I’ll be back here tomorrow, with a fresh new Geekly Update. See you then!
This article was posted by Bob Rankin on 8 Jun 2021
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Article information: AskBobRankin -- I'm Positive... It's a False Positive! (Posted: 8 Jun 2021)
Source: https://askbobrankin.com/im_positive_its_a_false_positive.html
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Most recent comments on "I'm Positive... It's a False Positive!"
Posted by:
Jim Scofield
08 Jun 2021
Currently I have been running McAfee and it has never tagged your site as suspicious.
Posted by:
bill
09 Jun 2021
Ditto here; 'squeaky clean' on our end. Maybe it is a MScovid variant?
Posted by:
Mikel Lozano
09 Jun 2021
I've tried most of the anti-virus and malware programs out there since I lost everything on my computer to ransomware. I had a backup so I told the jerk to take a hike! I've settled on Avira and have been very, very satisfied with its performance.
Posted by:
Larry
09 Jun 2021
could be to upgrade service?
Posted by:
RandiO
09 Jun 2021
Your first two-and-a-half words are similar to loudly greeting your buddy Jack in an airport!
I just hope some of your readers do not start freaking out and require you to display your vaccination card. ;)
Posted by:
thenudehamster
09 Jun 2021
I'm highly unlikely to get a false positive in any event.
I use PC-Matic...
'nuff said?
Posted by:
Bob Kinsler
09 Jun 2021
Could it be that you are using PCMatic versus McAfee and they are tried of you suggesting that people use PCMatic versus McAfee?
Posted by:
Doc
09 Jun 2021
BOB, just FYI, have missed SEVERAL of your posts, enough so I was either worried about you for missed a post saying you were moving to a couple of posts a month. Some weeks noting, other weeks 1 or 2 maybe 3 (rare) a week -- last 3-4 or a tad longer weeks. Once you showed up unbidden in a 'new tab' in FF, when I closed it to open from inbox, you went away, you were not in, spam or trash. Go figure. Others MIGHT be having the same trouble, so thought I'd take the time here to let you know. Glad you are OK. (win 7pro, PCM, a couple of common add-cookie-tracker blocking/ win 10 home, rest same). Moving only a couple of miles up the hill for a few months to a friends place to 'care-take' while I have the house fixed up,-- NO web access at all in the area for ANYone, and 1 bar on cell, have to drive 3 miles to get 3 bars. (Hughes net can deliver 2megs on good day).