Loading...

Knowledge Center

McAfee Support Notification Service (SNS) Frequently Asked Questions
Technical Articles ID:   KB67828
Last Modified:  6/12/2017
Rated:

Summary

The McAfee Support Notification Service (SNS) is a communication service that provides timely information by email and text to corporate customers, partners, and employees who subscribe to the service. SNS communications help you maximize the functionality and protection capabilities of your McAfee products.
 
SNS communications are:
  • Free, private, and secure
  • Focused on the products you select
  • Easy to turn on and off
To receive SNS, you must: 
 
Subscribe and select your products from the SNS Subscription Center at https://sns.secure.mcafee.com/signup_login.
 
For answers to frequently asked questions about SNS, see these sections:

 Types of information

What kind of information will I receive, and how frequently?

The communication method for all subscribers is email. If you provide a valid mobile phone number, you will receive Alert (urgent) communications by text message and email. SNS delivers the following types of messages:
 
Product information 
  • Notices: Standard product news, such as releases, signature updates, or end of life announcements
  • Alerts: Critical and urgent information requiring immediate customer action, such as vulnerabilities, false positives, virus outbreaks, or critical remediation updates. Alerts are determined by severity and urgency and sent only if immediate customer action is required.

    NOTE: Alerts are infrequent; Notices are the most common form of message. 
     
  • ProTips: Short product-specific emails offering best practices, troubleshooting, and how-to information with links to in-depth Knowledge Base resources (up to one or two per week)
Special Notices
  • Weekly Roundup: A weekly summary all notices and alerts for the preceding seven days (sent Tuesday afternoons Central Time)
  • DAT Delay Notices: A notice sent when there is a delay in the daily DAT file updates that McAfee Labs provides
  • Malware & Threat Reports: Updates from McAfee Labs on trends and news about threats and malware
  • SNS Digest: A monthly review of news, releases, tools, publications, webinars, and other product information and resources 
 
Does SNS support Google Voice?
Yes. SNS supports Google Voice.

Does SNS support pagers?
No. SNS does not support pager messaging. McAfee suggests that you sign up for SNS mobile phone text messaging instead. (Text messaging is used only to send Alerts.)
 
 

 Back to Contents


 Subscriptions
How do I subscribe to SNS?
If you do not have a current subscription account or want to create a new one (for example, with an alternate email address):
  1. Go to the SNS Subscription Center at https://sns.secure.mcafee.com/signup_login.
  2. Type your email address and click Submit. 
    You will be directed to a page to create your security key.
    After you have set the key, you will be directed to the subscription form.
  3. Complete the form.
  4. Click Subscribe/Update.
    Your new account is created, and you will start receiving the information types you selected.
You can change your information options any time by logging in at https://sns.secure.mcafee.com/signup_login.
 
How do I unsubscribe?
Log in at https://sns.secure.mcafee.com/signup_login. Scroll to the bottom of the subscription page, select Unsubscribe from all SNS Communications,  and click Subscribe/Update.

What do I do if I forgot my security key? 
On the subscription center login page:
  1. Go to the SNS Subscription Center at https://sns.secure.mcafee.com/signup_login.
  2. After typing your email address and clicking Submit, click Reset Security Key. An email with a link to reset your security key will be sent to your registered email address (allow 60 minutes).
  3. Open the email and click the link to change your security key.
  4. Type your new security key in both fields and click Subscribe/Update.
  5. Log in using your registered email address and new security key. 

 

What happens when I unsubscribe from the SNS communications?
Your subscription data is deleted from the system 90 days after you unsubscribe. If you decide to re-subscribe after 90 days, you must complete the subscription form again.

What happens if my email address is de-activated (for example, after leaving a job) and SNS gets a "hard bounceback"?
If a contact's email address is marked as a hard bounceback (that is, the email address does not or no longer exists), the contact will not be sent any further communications, and subscription details for the contact will be deleted after 90 days.

Is there a limit on the number of subscriptions per customer or company?
No. However, you should be accurate when you define your relation with McAfee.

Can I have my IT service provider get SNS notifications?
Yes. Direct your service provider to the SNS Subscription Center at https://sns.secure.mcafee.com/signup_login and complete the form. A company can use a distribution list or special email address (for example, support@xxxx.com) to ensure that a team gets the message.

What is the 'Alerts Only' option? 
If you want to receive only critical product information that requires immediate action, you can select Alerts Only. You will not receive regular technical operations information if you choose this option. 

NOTE: SNS Alerts are infrequent and comprise less than two percent of all emails sent. Customers who prefer less email but want to know about general product changes should select the Weekly Roundup on the subscription form.

Do I have to submit my phone number to subscribe to SNS?
No. However, if you want to receive Alert communications via text message, then you must submit a valid mobile phone number.

Back to Contents


Product categories for subscriptions

What products are included in the subscription form?
You can choose from the following options:
 
Product Category Products in this category
Advanced Threat Defense Advanced Threat Defense
Application and Change Control Application Control
Change Control
Embedded Control
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Data Loss Prevention Discover
Data Loss Prevention Endpoint
Data Loss Prevention - Prevent
Network Data Loss Prevention
Network Data Loss Prevention Discover
Network Data Loss Prevention Manager
Network Data Loss Prevention Monitor
Database Security Database Activity Monitoring
Vulnerability Manager for Databases
Email and Web Protection Content Security Reporter
Email Gateway
Quarantine Manager
Security for Microsoft Exchange
Security for Sharepoint (PortalShield)
Web Gateway
Endpoint Encryption Drive Encryption
Endpoint Assistant
Endpoint Encryption for Files and Folders
Endpoint Protection for Mac
File and Removable Media Protection
Conduit Platform
Management of Native Encryption
Endpoint Security Endpoint Security Firewall
Endpoint Security Threat Prevention
Endpoint Security Web Control
Endpoint Security for Mac Firewall
Endpoint Security for Mac Threat Prevention
Endpoint Security for Mac Web Control
Endpoint Security for Linux Threat Prevention
Endpoint Upgrade Assistant
ePO Cloud ePO Cloud
ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) ePO Deep Command
ePolicy Orchestrator
McAfee Agent
Rogue System Detection
Intrusion Prevention Host Intrusion Prevention
Network Security Platform Network Security Manager
Network Security Sensor Appliance
Network Security Signature Set
Network Threat Behavior Analysis Appliance
Policy Auditor and Risk Advisor Policy Auditor
Risk Advisor
SIEM SIEM Advanced Correlation Engine
SIEM Application Data Monitor
SIEM Database Event Monitor
SIEM Direct Attached Storage (DAS)
SIEM Enterprise Log Manager
SIEM Enterprise Security Manager
SIEM Event Receiver
SiteAdvisor Enterprise SiteAdvisor Enterprise
TIE/DXL/MAR Data Exchange Layer (DXL)
Threat Intelligence Exchange (TIE)
McAfee Active Response (MAR)
VirusScan/MOVE Cloud Workload Discovery for CWD
Data Center Connector
Installation Designer
MOVE Antivirus Agentless
MOVE Antivirus Multi-platform
VirusScan Command Line Scanner
VirusScan Enterprise
VirusScan Enterprise for Linux
VirusScan Enterprise for Storage
VirusScan for Mac

NOTE:
MOVE = Management for Optimized Virtual Environments
Vulnerability Manager  Vulnerability Manager
Vulnerability Manager Appliances
Vulnerability Manager Content


Back to Contents
 
 
SNS program security

Does McAfee track SNS email messages?
The SNS team tracks link click-throughs to evaluate message clarity and usefulness. This data allows the SNS team to improve message content and program value.

Does McAfee use the subscriber list for marketing purposes?
No. SNS subscriptions are separate from other McAfee lists and will never be used for marketing purposes. 

What safeguards does McAfee have to protect my privacy? 
Your security and privacy are important to us. To read the McAfee Privacy Policy, see: https://www.mcafee.com/us/about/legal/privacy.aspx#

How secure is the subscription form?
McAfee provides the following SNS subscriber security:
  • SSL certification of the subscription site for secure data transmission
  • Secure access for returning subscribers
  • A separate off-site database not connected to customer account data
 
Why are my messages from sns.secure.mcafee.com being classed as spam?
Your email systems might not recognize this domain as genuine email from McAfee and mark the email as potential spam. Ensure you whitelist sns.secure.mcafee.com and sns@sns.secure.mcafee.com. If you have any questions, email sns@mcafee.com.

Are messages from sns.secure.mcafee.com legitimate?
Yes. This is a dedicated domain that McAfee hosts through Oracle-Eloqua.

Why do I see header information from McAfeeSNS@en25.com in SNS messages?
This domain is the Oracle-Eloqua server that pushes McAfee SNS email. You can see more info on it via SiteAdvisor at http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/en25.com/.

What is Eloqua, and why do some SNS communications show an Eloqua domain address?
Oracle-Eloqua is a third-party company that McAfee uses to distribute SNS emails. 

Why does McAfee use Eloqua?
Using an outside provider for SNS communications offers advantages in terms of business continuity and security. Eloqua and the SNS program have no access to your account data. 

I have heard that Eloqua is spyware - is that true?
No. Oracle Eloqua (https://www.oracle.com/marketingcloud/products/marketing-automation/index.html) is used by many organizations, including McAfee. 

Does SNS use Transport Layer Security?
Currently, Oracle-Eloqua does not use Transport Layer Security (TLS). TLS continues to be on the overall roadmap but there is no ETA for deployment. Eloqua is ISO27001 certified, and some customers are willing to exempt Eloqua IP addresses from their TLS requirement. 
 

Back to Contents 

Disclaimer

The content of this article originated in English. If there are differences between the English content and its translation, the English content is always the most accurate. Some of this content has been provided using Machine Translation translated by Microsoft.

Rate this document

Did this article resolve your issue?

Please provide any comments below

Affected Products


Getting Started