What is a "vdefsx software installations"? (Big Sur)

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What is a "vdefsx software installations"? (Big Sur)

I'm poking around my M1 Mini "System report", under "Installations", and see approximately 40 "vdefsx" installations. The aforementioned letters are each followed by varying 11 digits. No "version number" is listed. But, they are from a "3rd party". That doesn't sound great to me. And, it seems a suspiciously busy update schedule.

The installations begin in February '21 - to the middle of Sept. I don't have any idea what they are, so I'm curious, and moderately concerned. Are these perhaps updates from installed 3rd party software? How can I find out what they are, and who is installing them? Or, is this nothing of concern? I don't know if they are legit, or something I need to try to get rid of. And, if so, how do I get rid of them?

After receiving advise through this forum, I recently dumped a couple of Apps. from 3rd party vendors. I may need to dump others.

I appreciate your help!

Cheers!

Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Sep 24, 2021 8:51 PM

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Answer 1

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Owl-53

Level 10

103,081 points

Sep 25, 2021 5:05 AM in response to Senior.Moment

Tend to agree with @Barney-15E on the useless AntiVirus Software.

Have just verified my Mac Mini M1 Big Sur 11.6 in System Report >> Installations and have none of those " vdefsx " appearing.

But then again, do not use any AntiVirus Software on the machine.

If you do have AV Software installed - really suggest Removing it as per the Developers Specific Instructions.

Please, do not Drag and Drop the AV Software to Trash as this may leave elements of the software still lurking on the computer that will cause even more issues later.

Further, please do not install another application that purports to Uninstall Applications, especially AV Software as they tend to do More Harm than good.

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