App Review BlackBerry CylancePROTECT 2024

It is advised to take all reviews with a grain of salt. In extreme cases some reviews use dramatization for entertainment purposes.
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Shadowra

Shadowra

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Sep 2, 2021
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CylanceProtect is an automatic enterprise antivirus based on Cloud IA Machine Learning.
Its special feature is that it is totally autonomous, but it never shone in my tests.
After 1 year, I'm giving it a chance, so we'll see.



User interface :
Cylance has no interface. Few settings are also accessible via the admin console. Just an agent with detected threats and some information, and that's it.
When I tell you it's automatic...
Practical for novices, but annoying for those who love customizing protection.


Web protection: 7/9 - Ransomware activity !
Cylance will miss 2 malicious files that managed to install themselves in a Ransomware called Mallox that encrypted data...
Cylance is also slow to intercept active threats...
Despite the presence of the Ransomware, I decided to continue with the test.


Fake crack : 0/1
No reaction from Cylance to the installation of malware injected by my fake crack...

Malware Pack : Impossible to determine, Cylance offers no analysis.
Cylance doesn't offer a system scan option and I see it reacting on Windows access and at runtime.
Cylance will try to defend itself, but will quickly find itself overwhelmed by various malware and 0-day attacks.
Another more aggressive Mallox variant will bypass the protection and encrypt the entire system.
I'm stopping the test and can't proceed with the checks.


Final scan : Mallox Ransomware encrypted programs. Unable to run a scan.

Final opinion:

Cylance offers an automatic, self-managed antivirus, while at the same time capitalizing on the lack of knowledge of even the most novice users.
But it doesn't improve protection at all!
The antivirus was infected twice by Ransomware and other malware in the pack test.
The machine is heavily infected, so I wouldn't recommend it.

@kamiloxf request
 
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Bot

AI-powered Bot
Apr 21, 2016
4,442
Thanks for your detailed review. It's unfortunate that CylancePROTECT didn't live up to your expectations. Your feedback is important and can help others make informed decisions. It's crucial to remember that no antivirus solution is 100% foolproof, and user vigilance is also key. Hopefully, Cylance will take note of these issues and improve in future versions.
 

ErzCrz

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Aug 19, 2019
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Interesting test, CylanceProtect uses Comodo's AV?

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SpiderWeb

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I bought a lifetime license of Smart Antivirus 3 years ago only for them to sunset it. According to reddit and Twitter, most of the former Cylance employees have left since it was bought by Blackberry so I am not surprised that their detection rates are about 3 years behind lol. I do not recommend using this software if you take security seriously.
 

cruelsister

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Cylance is a very interesting story. It was promoted as the original AI detection application. As a Startup they raised well over 500 million USD (with a chunk coming from my old friends at In-Q-Tel). It was promoted as the original AI detection application.

But the vast majority of the startup capital was spend on aggressive advertisements touting how superior the product was in comparison to all others. This continued even after they were caught using false malware test files in 2016. They then went around the country with their "Cylance Unbelievable Tour" dog and pony show where they challenged those attending to bring their own malware to be tested against the product.

I personally attended one with a few friends (we brought our own stuff) and I assure you things did not work at well for Cylance at all. The promise was they would certainly fix the deficiencies uncovered which of course never happened.

But things worked out well for them eventually as they got nice compensation for years and then sold out to BB for 1.4billion USD. Turns out that great marketing prevails over product quality every time, always and everywhere.
 

Kongo

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I am not quite sure wether all the features of Cylance are active if you use the Smart Antivirus license. Smart Antivirus has been discontinued years ago and it never had script protection for home users while the full CylanceProtect suite has it.
 

simmerskool

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Apr 16, 2017
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I remember when Cylance was really hyped in the forums as the greatest and best new thing. I unfortunately fell for that hype. Thank you for the test!
you are not alone in your "fall" -- metoo + cyberforce_security, enterprise reseller, which currently supplies my DeepInstinct, also offered CylanceProtect back in the day, and gee, they are offering the BB CylanceProtect today! (I wonder what percentage of customers use BB_CP rather than their other offerings, DeepInstinct & Sentinel One) :unsure:
 

cartaphilus

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Mar 17, 2023
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you are not alone in your "fall" -- metoo + cyberforce_security, enterprise reseller, which currently supplies my DeepInstinct, also offered CylanceProtect back in the day, and gee, they are offering the BB CylanceProtect today! (I wonder what percentage of customers use BB_CP rather than their other offerings, DeepInstinct & Sentinel One) :unsure:
I bet you are using the Austin distributor, I dropped by their office a while ago, but I digress.

IN-Q-Tel the worst kept "secret" that CIA has ever had....maybe it's on purpose? Who knows???? But yeah I once got Cylance for free with something else I bought, that was 2018, during that time it was still OK to use...nowdays it's worse than webroot and that's saying something.
 

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