You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

unknown file found in my privacy and security settings

Greetings from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was just double checking my security and privacy settings this morning and I ran across a file with only an acronym as its title and upon digging a little more it turns out this file has full access to my Macbook air M1. the title of the file is fmpd and its greyed out so I cannot change it. Can anyone tell me what this fmpd file is? and if its supposed to have full access and/or how I can go about finding its location and removing it if its not suppose to have access. Im stumped and nervous at what it is. Thank you for any help in advanced.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 13.2

Posted on Feb 24, 2023 9:31 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 24, 2023 10:12 AM

A quick Google search found that fmpd is anti-virus software from McAfee which is not good. It's junk ware and does more harm than good.


First, there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac.  This documents describe what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community and Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support.  


There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs.  There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.   


Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear.  They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware.  Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.


There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is designed solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it.  The free version is more than adequate for most users.  


So uninstall fmpd according to the developer's instructions.


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 24, 2023 10:12 AM in response to Aimeepf

A quick Google search found that fmpd is anti-virus software from McAfee which is not good. It's junk ware and does more harm than good.


First, there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac.  This documents describe what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community and Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support.  


There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs.  There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.   


Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear.  They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware.  Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.


There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is designed solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it.  The free version is more than adequate for most users.  


So uninstall fmpd according to the developer's instructions.


unknown file found in my privacy and security settings

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.