Many wonder what this famous (or shall I say – infamous) Akamai NetSession Client is. It’s no surprise since it’s blocked by the Firewall. Also, it blatantly asks users for permission to access their networks. Hence, nobody’s comfortable just allowing a program they know nothing about to do what it wants.
In this article, I will explain what Akamai NetSession Client is, as well as what its intentions are. In the end, I will also disclose how you can get rid of it if you’d like.
What is Akamai NetSession Client?
Akamai NetSession Client is a software that probably came already installed on your computer or laptop. Besides that, it comes as a follow-up to a bunch of apps and programs that you’ve acquired, mostly computer games. As I mentioned already, your Firewall will block its access. From time to time, the software will ask for your permission to access your public and private networks.
It asks you so because it apparently wants to observe your computer’s network performance. It gathers information from your computer and sends it to Akamai servers. The purpose of this is performance enhancement and troubleshooting if there’s a need.
Akamai NetSession Client uses the idle bandwidth, the portion of your internet connection which you do not use, to upload data to the servers and Akamai users, in general. It works as a network peer system – constantly sharing your files with other users without your knowledge. It’s similar to the torrent sharing system of peers.
Should you allow it to access your network then?
Well, Akamai Technologies, Inc. is not notoriously known for wanting to steal your information. It’s a company that has a fairly reputable status. It’s pretty much guaranteed that your personal information and private files are safe.
Despite its assumed dodgy intentions, Akamai NetSession Client does check for infected and harmful files. They go through a scan while they are being transferred. In other words, it’s not hazardous; it’s just that most users highly disapprove of its requests.
Even though it’s safe, users are still uncomfortable with a program having such freedom on their computers. The software uses Idle bandwidth and your internet connection for file upload to Akamai servers. That means that it could also hog the limited data that you’ve pre-paid your internet service provider for. Even worse, it could enlarge your bill, if you do not have a limit!
What to do?
Having said all that, it is quite easy to block it. Simply deny its access when it asks you. You can also uninstall it. Here’s how to do it:
Just press the Windows key and ‘R’, type in ‘appwiz.cpl’ and ‘Enter’. Select ‘Akamai NetSession Client’ from the list of installed programs, double-click on it, then select ‘Uninstall’.
Now that you have read about Akamai NetSession Client, you can decide what you want to do with it. Hopefully, you found this article helpful!