McAfee WebAdvisor Blocks Blogger / Google Scripts

We have several blog owners, trying to use Blogger - and seeing warnings from McAfee WebAdvisor.

When I try to log out, I am getting a risky connection warning.

Whoa! Are you sure you want to go there?

I cannot log out of blogger.

The blog owner needs to log out from her current account.

"! Warning: Trouble ahead"

"Whoa! Are you sure you want to go there?"

This looks scary - but keep it in perspective.



If you're going to use Blogger / Google, you have to trust Blogger / Google.

Look carefully at the URL, in the advice. Is it a genuine Blogger / Google URL?

If you want to use Blogger - such as logging out so you can use a different account - you have to use the Blogger pages and scripts. You may have to instruct McAfee that you trust that URL.

You, and other McAfee customers, have to help train McAfee.

If you trust Blogger code - and as a Blogger blog publisher, you should - you need to train McAfee to not block Blogger code.

Start by clicking on "Accept the Risk", and follow instructions. Hopefully, that will send feedback to McAfee, informing them that they are reporting a false positive detection.

If you read the McAfee WebAdvisor instructions (wherever they may be), you may also find a site whitelist or similar filter setting - and you may need to add "blogger.com" and "google.com" to your whitelist. This, too, may provide feedback to McAfee.

This is one more episode in the Internet security process.

This is simply one more case of overly aggressive security. And that, like most general paranoia, is not necessarily bad - if you can keep it in proper perspective.

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McAfee Webadvisor is currently advising blog owners, who try to logout from Blogger, that the logout webpage at "accounts.blogger.com" may be "risky". Since we know that Blogger Engineering is not going to intentionally cause risk for their customers, the McAfee warning is most likely a false positive - but the message, in the McAfee warning, will not leave people in a relaxed state of mind.

Blog owners may have to use the "Accept the Risk" button, and inform McAfee that they are displaying a false positive alert.