DNS provider became “data camp,” after installing NextDNS on my mac. After trying to delete NextDNS profile , the “profiles” app disappeared. I also have Avast. Was my dns was hijacked? Also, I need to find out how to get “Profiles” back?

Just to ease your concern about SearchPartyAgent and more specifically searchpartyd, this is a normal process ran on all Mac computers and is part of the OS sealed on a read only partition of the drive. It is associated with FindMy and is not Malware or Spyware that was installed by any third party. Unfortunately users get caught up on searching Diagnostic Logs and Activity Monitor and find names of processes that they think are nefarious.

Remove all of Avast including any cleaners. Post the free EtreCheck report to make sure all fragments have been removed.

Using EtreCheck - Apple Community

Pegasus? Unless you are a high level official or a government actor is willing to spend $500,000 + $250,000 per device to attempt to infiltrate you device, you do not need to worry. Apple even has that covered and you can find more information here:

About Apple threat notifications and protecting against mercenary spyware - Apple Support

To learn more about the security provided, there is a wealth of information here:

Apple Platform Security - Apple Support

You are under the misconception that you need additional protection and this is commonly spread by the very people that sell the software claiming they can keep you safe. Just let your Mac protect you and do not install anything that is going to interfere with this protection. It is not a case where you can add more protection by adding more software, it just cancels out the protection you already have. The single most important thing you can do is protect your Passcode/Password and avoid any phishing attempt that tries to get that information.

Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Rubyrubyapple wrote:

What about Pegasus virus? (Sorry if this is a dumb question)

If you’re a target for an entity with the funding and the self-perceived legal coverage expected for use of Pegasus or other espionage spyware, you’re going to have a Bad Day, regardless of what add-ons have been installed. Somebody might just send over a black bag crew, or (as the less-than-a-joke joke goes) a few folks with a wrench.

You’ll want to get assistance for the entirety of your security and your data management practices, if you are a potential target for spyware. Whether that’s personal, or involves IT and security-related assistance from an affiliated organization.

And possibly also counter-intuitively, add-on security apps themselves can be and have been targets for exploitation. Some of the add-on security apps have been just hilariously badly and insecurely implemented, and those vulnerabilities then exploited.

Here’s another thread going in parallel: Which security service is aporopiat for m… - Apple Community

What are you trying to accomplish here?

I read about dns providers and was experimenting with changing my DNS provider to nextdns

Is that it?

You're going to have to back up a bit. First of all, ditch the antivirus. Many 3rd party AV products include components that hijack your secure connections. They are essentially self-inflicted man-in-the-middle attacks. Regardless of one's opinion about "security" issues, they are not conducive to experimenting with network configurations.

Going beyond such experiments, you don't need any 3rd party antivirus on a Mac. The only way to install malware on a Mac is to do it on purpose. Most people do that when they try to install some pirated version of an expensive software package, or when they try to watch some paid streaming service for free. They will need to bypass multiple layers of built-in Apple security to do this. But all they ever wind up doing is installing malware. That's how Mac malware works. Anything you've read about this on the internet is misinformation published by antivirus companies, security researchers", and social media influencers, often funded by Apple's biggest competitors. It's not true, but it is effective.

Little Snitch has a different story, but the same end result. The information it provides is not accurate. Most people don't know enough about internet infrastructure to realize that. They've installed Little Snitch to prevent apps from "phoning home". They are trying to prevent certain apps from contacting their licensing servers, if you know what I mean. Little Snitch does not, and cannot, block apps that are harvesting your personal information for sale on the internet. The only people affected are honest developers trying to make a living.

If you want to get back to normal, get rid of your antivirus and 3rd party system modifications. Don't bother with NextDNS either. Apparently, NextDNS "NextDNS protects you from all kinds of security threats, blocks ads and trackers on websites and in apps and provides a safe and supervised Internet". Yeah, they're not the only ones trying to market DNS as some kind of antivirus.

You are going down a rabbit hole. You do not need third party apps that claim to protect, clean, manage, etc. Such apps are not necessary, they use system resources while providing no benefit, and they may cause problems. You also do not need a DNS manager, public VPN, etc. Such apps often have access to your browsing history and transmitted data to do with as they wish. They may sell or share your data to third parties.

Rubyrubyapple wrote:

First I am trying to figure out what exactly is Data Camp and how it became my dns provider. I looked up Data Camp on scamalytics.com- https://scamalytics.com/ip/isp/datacamp-limited1. which gave a potentially high fraud risk.

You are basing all this on what apps are telling you and what you are seeing on some web page. All of that is meaningless.

Go to System Settings and use search to try to find your DNS IP Addresses. As of Ventura, all this is redesigned and hard to find, but it's there if you look hard enough. But even when you find the data, it probably won't be very useful. For example, my two DNS addresses are 1. my ISP WiFi router and 2. a Bell IP address (which makes sense because I have Bell fibre). I used ARIN whois to lookup the IP address. Many people, and many ISPs, just use Google DNS services 4.4.4.4 or 8.8.8.8 or similar.

But other people on a reddit app are saying that Data Camp is just server who uses a vpn provider.

Don't get your information from Reddit.

it would be nice to have some clarity.

You've installed 3rd party apps and given them full control over these settings. There's no way anyone else can clarify anything and your 3rd party app probably won't tell you.

I do use apple relay on safari and duckduckgo for mac, any thoughts?

Apple Private Relay is just a web proxy. It's not a VPN. Not all apps will use it.

I don't use DuckDuckGo. I find Google to provide superior results, but see below for "follow the money".

I am trying to accomplish removing NextDNS completely from all the configurations I did.

You will need to uninstall any 3rd party apps that are managing this information. Then you can use features built-in to the macOS operating system to see what is being used and find out more information.

I am not a cyber security pro or hacker by any means so I wouldn't know for sure.

That's the problem, isn't it? You are up against professionals who are 1) trying to hide this activity and 2) trying to sell you something.

But one thing I do know is I never typed in to my browser www.TrackingExamplewebsite.com1. (the websites displayed on NextDNS and duckduckgo.

That's not something you can really manage. Any modern website is going to have a huge set of trackers, cookies, etc. Your computer will make all of those connections before you type anything.

I guess remove Avast now. But the Avast comes in a few different Apps. One is antivirus and the other is Avast Clean up(which is useful)

The macOS operating system doesn't need any extra antivirus help and doesn't need any "clean up".

But my main concern is trackers and spyware.

I recommend sticking with Safari. The only 3rd party help I have are adblockers like 1Blocker and Purify for iOS.

That's as good as it gets. When adding 3rd party apps, it doesn't take long before you leave the "protection" level and get into the "harvesting" level.

NextDNS has generated a “Profile” on my computer. Once I went and deleted the NextDNS Profile, the app “Profiles,” in system peferences completely disappeared. Is there something wrong with my machine.

If you have decided to use some 3rd party app, then you need to let it run however it runs. Don't try to interfere with it. If the app itself provides some settings, you can use those. But don't go trying to use the operating system to hack the app behind its back. That will either break something or cause you to waste your money. I've seen many examples of people having paid money for 3rd party antivirus but then use the OS "background items" settings to turn off their AV.

It is normal not to have any profiles.

(continued)

My mac has become pretty slow in the last week. I have not done any backups with time machine yet so there is no restore point. There is a limited number of things I did in the last week so I have no idea whats causing it.

Probably all the 3rd party system modification apps. Anything you add will slow down your computer to some degree. The more significant the modification, the greater the impact. Your computer's performance, security, and privacy levels are at the highest levels the first time you opened the box and turned it on. Anything you've done since then reduces your performance, security, and privacy.

I want to believe you when you say that Macs cant get virus’s but Macs are still susceptible to internet tracking and all of that right?

The macOS itself is not susceptible to malware or tracking. You are the weakest link. When you install 3rd party apps or go to free web sites, those apps and sites are the ones tracking you. Safari provides the greatest level of privacy protection.

But otherwise, the internet is the internet for everyone. As a general rule, follow the money. What are you paying for an app or service? You always have to pay. With Apple, you pay for the hardware and the apps are free. You pay extra for services like iCloud. Some 3rd party apps require a license or subscription payment. If you aren't paying, then someone else is paying for access to your data. Sometimes, you even pay to give your data away.

I have heard the same thing before but is that really true? Ive read articles about certain virus’s affecting Macs.

That's just misinformation published by antivirus companies, "internet security researchers", and social media influencers. Some of that is funded by Apple's biggest competitors. They know Apple devices are secure. That's why the push so hard for you to install 3rd party modifications to make your device more hackable.

May I ask you, what is your credentials?

BA in Computer Science and Master's degree in Information. 😄 I'm the developer of EtreCheck. I could say more, but I have cyber-stalker problems. Trying to get as far away from the "security" scam as I can.

What about Pegasus virus? (Sorry if this is a dumb question)

Fake.

In theory, such things do exist, but you don't need to worry about them. The irony here is that the people who are most worried about such things are the people whose tax dollars literally built them.

Well who can then?

Apple. Don't believe what you read on the internet. Don't believe me because I have credentials or wrote some silly app. Put your trust in Apple. Accept Apple's defaults. That's as good as it gets.

The entire internet runs off of malicious data harvesting. Apple runs off hardware sales. Trust Apple. Stop worrying.