News: Samsung Preinstalls McAfee Bloatware on Your S8 & It's Neither Great nor Free

Samsung Preinstalls McAfee Bloatware on Your S8 & It's Neither Great nor Free

Malware attacks on mobile phones are reaching an all-time high and it looks like companies like Samsung are doing all that they can to prevent any unwanted hackers from accessing its sensitive user data.

When it comes to Samsung, well, they get enough flack already being all faulty and stuff, so I guess we can say that this is them trying to put a stop to a possible attack before it reaches them first.

Except, it's not like Samsung is actually installing some kind of free McAfee Android bloatware on its devices. Yeah, it's going to be preinstalled, but it's not going to be free.

Rather, McAfee and Samsung are extending its partnership together, which means that past your 60-day free trial, you'll receive a special offer from Samsung and McAfee that you have to pay for if you want to continue to protect your phone.

So after you purchase your new Samsung Galaxy S8, your free trial will initiate ensuring that your smartphone is protected right out of the box, which is a great thing. Though, I have to wonder whether or not Samsung cares more about its users' privacy or the financial cut it's going to make after users continue to pay for the antivirus software.

Not only that, but McAfee? According to our testing, Samsung could have done a lot better than to go with McAfee, but then again, maybe it was McAfee who offered the best monetary percentage that the phone company could get.

In fact, McAfee is outranked by three other Android antivirus apps when it comes to protecting your Android smartphone. If Samsung really wanted to ensure that its users were protected, then it should've partnered with Avast.

Avast's Mobile Security & Antivirus app for Android is really the best of its kind and is most importantly for us — though not for Samsung — pretty much free.

What does Samsung have to say about all this? Well, they think the whole thing is great of course. According to Henry Lee, VP of Mobile Security Technologies, and the Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics, in its official McAfee press release:

As the connected world of devices continues to expand into consumers' homes, Samsung users can feel comfortable knowing that their devices are protected with the latest security solutions. We understand the importance of building security in devices from the start and are proud to offer solutions that provide convenience while keeping our customers safe.

There you go. According to Samsung, you should feel comfortable knowing that your device is secure through preinstalled bloatware that isn't really that great, or free.

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Cover image via Bettina Mangiaracina/Gadget Hacks

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