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JaiPrakash
Former Member
Message 21 of 63

Re: Real time scanning not detecting tracking cookies , is it detecting anything?

Just for an information & for better classification - Cookies are small files placed on your computer to record information about certain sites you visit. Cookies have multiple uses, such as storing the settings you have chosen for a specific website. Tracking cookies can be used by ad companies to analyze your browsing history so they can tailor their ads based on your browsing preferences. Cookies are relatively benign compared to 'true' spyware like behavioral and keyword monitoring applications.

So, if McAfee hasnt removed  any cookies over the recent days , I would assume that the PC has nt visited any site which contained any maliciious cookies , rather every single cookie was a third party cookies as menitoned above .

Unhappy-bunny
Former Member
Message 22 of 63

Re: Real time scanning not detecting tracking cookies , is it detecting anything?

my problem is i am "testing" it ( going to sites i know use tracking cookies ) and real time is not detecting it,  when a full scan (on demand or scheduled) is.

for example in the past  I went to;  secuirity center- navigation - histoty and logs - threats decected , it would say;  date/time  scan type threat detected status

and in the scan type it would say real time.  now there is NO real time entries only scheduled , full etc (all entries detected time corrospond to a scan)

thats why now on a scan instead of just a amount of cookies rising i have issuesdetected -issues fixed  (all tracking cookies).

On a side note as we speak someone from mcafee (who sent me the email from this thread)  is on my PC (remote asstance ) is taking logs and files (screenaps of when it did work) .

Message was edited by: Unhappy-bunny on 19/09/11 19:11:22 IST
Unhappy-bunny
Former Member
Message 23 of 63

Re: Real time scanning not detecting tracking cookies , is it detecting anything?

They ( McAfee) are going to call me on Friday.  Although I m still not sure that they understand my problem, they said something like "mcafees now set up if its a tracking cookie you will find it in history and logs " thats what i am trying to say  in threats detected there is NO real time enteries at all , only items detected in scans.

when working

when working.png

Now

Now not working.png

Message was edited by: Unhappy-bunny on 19/09/11 19:42:30 IST
aabob
Former Member
Message 24 of 63

Re: Real time scanning not detecting tracking cookies , is it detecting anything?

To add to what Unhappy-bunny is describing: This is almost certainly not because Unhappy-bunny hasn't visited sites with tracking cookies. On August 11, Microsoft pushed a large number of updates to Windows, including (at least for Windows 7 x64 systems such as mine) one that looks from its description like it might be related to this problem. A list of the updates is in a message from me earlier in this string. For both Unhappy-bunny and me, who have McAfee Security Center Real-Time Scanning configured to intercept and delete tracking cookies, that feature immediately stopped working. In particular, I believe (and Unhappy-bunny can correct me if I am wrong), we both discovered it when scheduled or on-demand scans began reporting that they were finding and removing a substantial number of tracking cookies, where the number of cookie removals with scheduled or on-demand scans had previously always been 0 because they were being found in real time. A check of logs then showed that the large number of messages from RTS declaring the removal of newly-arrived tracking cookies stopped dead on August 11, immediately after the Windows update.

On September 9, immediately after McAfee pushed an update of their own to MSC, cookie deletion began again for me, but Unhappy-bunny has not had the same luck. Incidentally, a further check of logs verified that, indeed, no cookie was removed by RTS between August 11 and September 9, and then they again started being removed, e.g., a handful that Amazon tries to plant every time I visit their site.

The McAfee folks clearly do keep a file of which tracking cookies are truly obnoxious, as opposed to the useful ones that sites plant so that you don't have to key in certain useful information each time you visit, but intercept the ones whose only function is to annoy us with targeted ads that we don't want (and, in some cases, try to put together information on people that can profile them and, if they get lucky, can be attached to contact information). It's great, and I'm glad that it's working for me again. I wish Unhappy-bunny well in getting this real problem resolved.

Unhappy-bunny
Former Member
Message 25 of 63

Re: Real time scanning not detecting tracking cookies , is it detecting anything?

aabob that is excactly right I kept telling them that ( The techs have taken some screen caps I took showing when it was working then stopped ) I thought they understood (phyisically showing the screen caps) but then their closing comment  of  " you wont be notified when mcafee detects something it will be in the logs" did not fill me with confidence ( after i had shown them the logs with NO  realtime detections at all- I think he thought i expected a warning message pop up for every cookie detected!).

Also can i thank you for the eicar suggestion - that was detected so i feel alittle better, when something like this happens you worry about the intregity of the whole suite.

Thanks again,

Un happy bunny

aabob
Former Member
Message 26 of 63

Re: Real time scanning not detecting tracking cookies , is it detecting anything?

An update: I have no idea whether this is helpful or not, but I did have something interesting happen this morning that seems related to this thread.

I do full scans manually once per week, and did one about an hour ago. The scan detected several tracking cookies that got by real-time scanning, which made me think, "Oh, no, not again!" Looking at the logs, after the full scan had completed, I saw that the last tracking cookie detected by RTS was about three hours before the full scan, and I then verified by visiting several sites that plant tracking cookies that RTS had lost the ability to detect and remove them. (Again, I did this by looking at the McAfee logs after visiting the sites.) There had been no software updates from either Microsoft or McAfee, or anyone else during that time, nor had anything else unusual happened. The only programs run on the computer during that time period were standard Microsoft Office programs and Internet Explorer, and no unusual web sites were visited.

On general principle, I rebooted, and after the reboot I discovered, when visiting the cookie-planting sites, that RTS was once again detecting and removing them. I am relieved, but as you can imagine I'm now watching MSC warily to see whether it is going to act up again in this fashion.

Also, I very much hope that, during the period that RTS was unable to detect tracking cookies, it was still doing its job on viruses. It probably was, since the manual scan found none.

Whether or not the problem I just experienced is related to that of Unhappy-bunny's and the one I experienced between August 11 and September 9 (and the symptoms in all of those cases were identical), the following should be noted when trying to find the problem elsewhere besides with the McAfee software:

1. This morning, RTS was not detecting tracking cookies. I've made no error in stating that - it was not detecting tracking cookies, and I know how to check.

2. With no changes to any McAfee settings or anything else, I rebooted.

3. RTS then resumed detecting tracking cookies.

As someone who once worked as a computer system software specialist, I know that one could say that this is symptomatic of something external to the McAfee software clobbering it and then having the McAfee software fixed by a reload after reboot, but I also know that I'd ask my people to focus on figuring out how the clobbering happened, and see whether it's due to some legitimate actions external to the clobbered software that it hasn't taken into account might happen. This could well be where McAfee is focusing on this, and that would be appropriate. But I think that any continued searching for the problem in operator error is probably not going to be productive.

Unhappy-bunny
Former Member
Message 27 of 63

Re: Real time scanning not detecting tracking cookies , is it detecting anything?

The person who contacted me on Monday 19th at around 16.00 hrs UK time (took files etc) said that the would call me today (Fri 23rd) at around the same time it is now 21.00 and  AGAIN I HAVE HEARD NOTHING - this is not the first time in the SIX WEEKS that I have been dealing with McAfee that this has happened,

I have spent days (today included ) canceling plans, sitting by the phone (using my mobile at cost to me -to keep the line free) because people have said that they will call and they have not.

Add to that the fact I have had to spend hours re installing  and I still cannot use my PC confident that  the McAfee software is working as it should, Because it is NOT.

I have borrowed a laptop (which they need back)  so i again will have no internet - without secuirity software I cannot use the internet., I can not let my kids online to do homework because it is not working properly.

I also have lots of programs i want to put back on my pc - but can't because i want McAfee to be working first so that 1, I know that the program cant be blamed or cause a conflict and 2 i don't want to spend  (any more) hours installing programs, finalising settings on all the users- only to be told to take it back to factory settings again.

I am really fed up now

Unhappy-bunny
Former Member
Message 28 of 63

Re: Real time scanning not detecting tracking cookies , is it detecting anything?

Also aabob I think (cannot double check due to all the factory re-installs) that when I had my original problem that there were no corresponding updates.

I'm on a Vista 32 bit HP computer.

Hayton
Reliable Contributor
Reliable Contributor
Message 29 of 63

Re: Real time scanning not detecting tracking cookies , is it detecting anything?

This thread has been running for a while now, and I assumed that whatever it was would be fixed soon enough. I've been watching the History and Logs section of Security Center for some weeks, and it shows nothing being detected. All of the threat-detection sections are empty except for Incoming Events. I have RTS set to prevent tracking cookies, but nothing is being quarantined - possibly because MS Disk Cleanup or CCleaner is deleting the cookies before I run my weekly AV scan. So I'm curious to know what the current status of this is : I have nothing in the Quarantine folder, nothing in the logs. Cookies I don't care about much, but I too am wondering why they aren't showing up.

Edit - I've thought of a possible partial answer. I wonder if it's anything to do with the cookie opt-out / Do Not Track plug-ins I have in Chrome? I think Firefox has something similar. Of course, that means most or all of the websites are obeying the do-not-track requests ...

Empty Quarantine folder.JPG

Empty Threats Detected.JPG

Message was edited by: Hayton on 23/09/11 23:44:52 IST
Unhappy-bunny
Former Member
Message 30 of 63

Re: Real time scanning not detecting tracking cookies , is it detecting anything?

I'm using IE8, I've never used it with chrome (I have chrome as a 2nd normally just for pages that I'm having issues with in ie) previously  i was told it was not compatible with netprotect plus (I know it is now because it is in my plug ins but I disabled it cause I did nt want them to conflict  (also the BT site still only says IE and firefox) - just kept the site advisor for chrome) and this set up worked fine for months (poss even over a year)

Regards the logs I am getting results but only the cookies detected in scans  nothing REALTIME (see pics a few screens up).

Also I know this is possibly just a weird coincidence but we both have the MVT problem.

EDIT; the string test did show up as realtime.

Message was edited by: Unhappy-bunny on 24/09/11 00:12:00 IST


Message was edited by: Unhappy-bunny on 24/09/11 00:46:31 IST
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