In the past, Malwarebytes rarely participated in lab testing. A lab test that uses outdated samples could make the antivirus look bad. This emphasis on active, prevalent threats and advanced detection methods sometimes makes testing Malwarebytes tough.
The Premium Edition's anti-ransomware engine strictly uses behavioral detection. Exploit protection watches attack vectors and heads off exploits. In Malwarebytes Premium, machine learning and detection of anomalous behavior catch many malware samples. Every successful antivirus adds heuristic detection, behavior-based detection, and other non-signature protection layers. Simple-minded signature-based malware detection alone isn't enough in the modern world of zero-day attacks and polymorphic malware. Much like the AutoPilot feature in Bitdefender, Trusted Advisor reports on the status of your protection and offers advice on how to do even better. New since my last review is the Trusted Advisor feature, reached by clicking the status pane in the main window. If that’s too bland, you can switch to dark mode or choose a different background. By default, the display uses a faintly patterned light gray background, with elements of white and blue. Just after installation, it recommends launching an initial scan. Above these panels is an area that provides status information and advice. As noted, the real-time protection feature is premium-only-so is scheduled scanning.
A banner across the top reports status and offers advice, while three large panels along the bottom offer access to Detection History, Scanner, and Real-Time Protection. For testing purposes, I dug into account settings and declined the Premium trial.Īfter a quick installation, the simple main window appears. It does just one thing: clean up existing malware problems. In particular, the free edition, reviewed here, doesn't include any real-time protection. If you let the trial expire without upgrading, you lose quite a few features. When you install the free edition, you get a 14-day trial of Malwarebytes Premium. It’s not meant to be your only protection, however-you should use it alongside a full-powered free antivirus like Avast One Essential or AVG AntiVirus Free, our Editors’ Choice winners for free antivirus protection. Malwarebytes Free aims to clean out preexisting malware and hunt down malicious programs that evaded your regular antivirus. In the real world, though, malware sometimes slips past antivirus protection or gets embedded in the system and interferes with installing protection. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security SoftwareĪ perfect antivirus tool would eliminate all malicious software while treating valid programs with loving care.It's not as powerful as it used to be, but it still lives up to its name. Its lack of real-time protection means that it can never be a replacement for your current antivirus, but it's definitely a tool worth keeping on your computer.īesides that, downloading the Free version with the Premium trial is the best way to get rid of the virus infestation, which has gotten past your main antivirus. However, its ruling days are over as other antivirus tools have improved their technologies. The Premium version relies on machine learning as the primary functionality, instead of checking for known virus signatures, making Malwarebytes one of the most advanced tools for malware recognition.Īn amazing thing about Malwarebytes Free is that its scans are quick and efficient. After this time period expires, you will find out that you are stripped of the real-time protection which consists of Web, Exploit, Malware, and Ransomware protection.īut after the trial ends, you still have a powerful scanner capable of hunting down malware already present on your machine. Malwarebytes provides several layers of protection, but is widely known as a very efficient malware scanner with a great database.Īfter you download and install the free version of the tool, you are greeted with a 14-day trial of the Premium version. Price: $ Having a great security scanner is a must and some antivirus tools simply fail to provide sufficient protection when it comes to that part.