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User profile for user: David_voon
David_voon Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Indeed Inc wants remote access to my Macbook and is prompting me upon OS install

Hello all,


I have a MacBook Pro Retina (Early 2015) which I purchased used. I have no idea where the previous user of this laptop originally got it from. I've used it for about 3 years.


I've done clean OS installs on it several times in the past without having this issue and have never seen a popup of any kind about Indeed Inc.


I recently upgraded to Catalina, but wanted to downgrade to Mojave again. I got a copy of Mojave (I believe from the App Store) and made a bootable USB from it. I booted from it, used disk utility to wipe my drive, and then proceeded to install the OS from the disk. Everything went normal and fine until rebooting and setting up the OS. After a couple of steps of setup it said that Indeed Inc was going to configure remote access of the the laptop. I clicked next was prompted for a Username and Password for Indeed. I was blocked from proceeding further without these credentials.


I then tried using internet recovery and was able to recover into Big Sur. Going through the set up for Big Sur brought me to the exact same prompt upon setup. The screenshot of this prompt is below.

I emailed Indeed with this photo and asked about it but got no reply.


I tried this setup again a day later at another person's house and to my surprise, I was able to finish the install properly without getting the Indeed prompt. I realized then that while doing this at my own house, my laptop was automatically connecting to WiFi (even after erasing the drive) and that this was causing the Indeed prompt to appear. At the other person's house, my computer was not connecting to Wifi (even though my keychain had previously contained that password as well...).


Seizing my opportunity, I plugged in my Mojave boot disk and repeated the process for Mojave, installing it successfully.


A few days later, after using Mojave without a problem, I saw a notification pop up on the right side of my screen saying something along the lines of "Indeed Inc can automatically configure remote access" and asking me to give permission to do so. I clicked cancel instead of accept. I didn't get a screenshot of this but I will if it appears again.


I am confused and can't find anything online about this.


Was my laptop originally an asset of Indeed?

Is there a piece of hardware in my laptop that remembers recent wifi passwords and tries to set up Indeed's access?

Why did I never see this prompt before while using this laptop for years?


Thank you for any help!


MacBook Pro Retina

Posted on Jan 24, 2021 3:42 PM

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User profile for user: steve626
steve626
User level: Level 6
10,001 points

Posted on Jan 24, 2021 5:53 PM

Looks like you obtained a used computer that had been set up as a managed asset for an enterprise deployment. Sometimes the remote management remains embedded in firmware or even hardware and persists even through "disk wipes." Normally such assets are not put on the market as used, so what happened there is a good question. This is one reason I never buy used computers but if I did it would only be through the Apple Store or an authorized Apple provider. How wold one check for such a thing?


I think your options are to continue using the computer as best you can or try some more to contact" Indeed Inc.", possibly by phone if they aren't responding to your emails. Problem is, "Indeed Inc." might not exist anymore, or it might have been acquired by someone else and maybe changed its business.


You might check System Preferences to see if there are any Profiles for this computer. The Profile pane will only appear in System Preferences if they exists, otherwise there will be no Profiles pane. Sometimes Profiles are set up for managed assets, but I doubt there will be one since you wiped the disk, but check and see anyway.


You can also check your Firewall and Sharing or Remote Access settings. You might be able to prevent such intrusions there. Also, get familiar with any restrictions on remote access that you can implement through your router settings.


Once a computer is set up as a managed asset it is sometimes impossible to remove. I use a managed asset Mac laptop for my employer's work computer and there are Profiles there that I cannot change or remove even though I am an Administrator. There are also some Security and Software Update settings, and extensions to the OS that I cannot change or remove as well.

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User profile for user: steve626
steve626
User level: Level 6
10,001 points

Jan 24, 2021 5:53 PM in response to David_voon

Looks like you obtained a used computer that had been set up as a managed asset for an enterprise deployment. Sometimes the remote management remains embedded in firmware or even hardware and persists even through "disk wipes." Normally such assets are not put on the market as used, so what happened there is a good question. This is one reason I never buy used computers but if I did it would only be through the Apple Store or an authorized Apple provider. How wold one check for such a thing?


I think your options are to continue using the computer as best you can or try some more to contact" Indeed Inc.", possibly by phone if they aren't responding to your emails. Problem is, "Indeed Inc." might not exist anymore, or it might have been acquired by someone else and maybe changed its business.


You might check System Preferences to see if there are any Profiles for this computer. The Profile pane will only appear in System Preferences if they exists, otherwise there will be no Profiles pane. Sometimes Profiles are set up for managed assets, but I doubt there will be one since you wiped the disk, but check and see anyway.


You can also check your Firewall and Sharing or Remote Access settings. You might be able to prevent such intrusions there. Also, get familiar with any restrictions on remote access that you can implement through your router settings.


Once a computer is set up as a managed asset it is sometimes impossible to remove. I use a managed asset Mac laptop for my employer's work computer and there are Profiles there that I cannot change or remove even though I am an Administrator. There are also some Security and Software Update settings, and extensions to the OS that I cannot change or remove as well.

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Indeed Inc wants remote access to my Macbook and is prompting me upon OS install

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