Battle Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit vs HitmanPro.Alert 3

[Solarquest]

What anti-exploit program offers the better protection ?
Which one has the most features?
Where can tests of MBAE vs Hmpa 3 be found?
Which one do you recommend in the payed version and which one in the free version and why?
Thks

 

[KaptainBug]

HMPA does not protect against exploits in free version. So my choice is MBAE which covers the browser, all addons and plugins and Java in free version. My choice will be MBAE. HMPA removed cryptoguard and vaccination from their free version, so IMO free version of HMPA is useless.

 

[hjlbx]

HMPA 3 is still in beta so it has not been released for testing by any of the labs.

I think HMPA 3 is still too buggy to use at the moment...at least on my system it is.

CryptoGuard and Vaccination will only be available in the paid version of HMPA 3, but otherwise I think free versions of MBAE and HMPA will be essentially equivalent.

If you rid your system of Adobe Acrobat, Flash, Reader, Windows Media Player, Microsoft Office Suite, Oracle Java, etc then you do not need to use an anti-exploit.

 

[KaptainBug]

HMPA 3 is still in beta so it has not been released for testing by any of the labs.

I think HMPA 3 is still too buggy to use at the moment...at least on my system it is.

CryptoGuard and Vaccination will only be available in the paid version of HMPA 3, but otherwise I think free versions of MBAE and HMPA will be essentially equivalent.

If you rid your system of Adobe Acrobat, Flash, Reader, Windows Media Player, Microsoft Office Suite, Oracle Java, etc then you do not need to use an anti-exploit.

Equivalent ? How are the free versions equivalent ? There is no anti-exploit feature in free version of HMPA.

 

[hjlbx]

Equivalent ? How are the free versions equivalent ? There is no anti-exploit feature in free version of HMPA.

You are correct.

 

[Moose]

Salutations,

 

[Ink]

As most users should be able to keep their software updated, and ITW exploits are not common for home users *unless targeted*. I would use HitmanPro.Alert (current stable v2).

HMP.Alert offers protection against Man-in-the-Middle attacks whilst using your web browser.

 

[jerzy601]

Hitman Pro Alert only protects the browser and the browser and nothing else.

 

[Nirv5668]

Any updates on hitmanpro.alert? I have had issues with mbae and cis sandbox and there is no issue with hitmanpro.alert. I actually installed hitmanpro.alert not realizing it overlapped with mbae (thought it was just vaccination trick, but downloaded a 40 day trial of v3 paid version), in my limited usage of the two together there were no obvious issues, but I disabled mbae for now just in case. There are some reports of conflicts (ex: https://forums.malwarebytes.org/ind...alert-was-ie11-app-crashes-caused-by-mbaedll/).

I have a 3-computer MBAE license for another 11 months, but I'm annoyed with the compatibility issues with sandboxes (sandboxie seems to be an issue as well on the forums). I would stick it out with mbae if I thought they were going to resolve these, but they mostly say on the forums that compatibility (with various software) is not their first priority, which is understandable.

Now, the technical details of whose exploit protection is better coded/implemented is beyond me, but looking at the options, hitman.pro alert seems to cover more vulnerabilities by default (ex: chrome ASLR, anti-heap spraying disabled by default in mbae, on by default with no issues in hitmanpro.alert), more applications by default (Chromodo, WPS office, skype etc.) as well as custom shields (although I haven't tried these yet).

For additional features hitmanpro.alert wins I think- the vaccination is a neat trick, keystroke encryption is great, webcam alert, protection against 'badusb' (ones that pose as keyboard), cryptoguard, process protection (not sure if mbae has something like this or not)- all nice features.

And, hitman.pro alert seems to be lighter on system resources.

So, for me the question is if there is some technical detail that makes mbae better. Right now comparing premium to premium, hitmanpro.alert looks better. For free though, it seems like mbae is the way to go, maybe combined with hitmanpro.alert free since there is not a conflicting exploit component?

 

[enaph]

Hitman Pro Alert only protects the browser and the browser and nothing else.

Nope. You're wrong. HMP.A protects also Office, Windows Media Player, Skype, Adobe Reader and it offers keystrokes encryption, USB, camera and it blocks backdoors networks activity.

 

[Nirv5668]

Nope. You're wrong. HMP.A protects also Office, Windows Media Player, Skype, Adobe Reader and it offers keystrokes encryption, USB, camera and it blocks backdoors networks activity.

Yes, and a bunch of other software as well it seems. I had to manually add WPS office to MBAE, but HMP.A just picked-up on it automatically. I can't find a full list of the supported software, it just seems to detect what is on your computer and protect it- is there a list of supported software?

 

[Nirv5668]

Okay, update again. Just opened KeePass and got a HMP.A pop-up that it is being protected as well...which besides the exploit protection, its kind of nice to see that my keystrokes are encrypted when I type in my master password I don't know...I'm kind of having a hard time sticking with mbae if this all continues! Really impressed.

 

[rienna]

Both are nice but not absolutely necessary.
If your antivirus or antimalware has proper HIPS, Heuristics, or a Behavior blocker it should be able to pick up such infections to begin with before they do damage.

 

[Nirv5668]

Very few software has ant-exploit, which I believe is different than HIPS, heuristics and behavior blockers. And I like the added keystroke encryption...I have Comodo (Proactive config) and love it, but my previous attacks were personal (like access and had to open the photos and docs sent) and from an expert, so very hard to avoid without layered (unusual) protection. I would agree that most don't need it, but its just so light on the system and plays nice with everyone, that it seems like a great addition to even basic AV for everyone. My computer is running so well right now and its older, running on 4gigs of ram, I know a lot of people here have crazy stuff, so this little software would hardly touch their performance. It has a lot of features I am missing. But yeah, if we are talking random non techie person just surfing facebook who will freak with an AV popup, maybe a good and silent free AV would be all they need. I try to keep the AVs free and pay for things like mbae or hmp.a--since they cover an unusual angle and I feel too busy to figure out EMET right now.

 

[rienna]

Well that's nice. To each their own.
There are many ways to block browser exploits though, such as toggling Java and Flash on or off (there are extensions for firefox that do this)

 

[Nirv5668]

And, it seems to come with HMP license. Does anyone know if this will just come with HMP? I don't see a price for HMP.A anywhere and the trial is for both, which is really nice!

 

[Nirv5668]

These make a lot of sense as well. I actually got a word-based exploit, so I needed the premium MBAE for that , but its all good. Luckily I had the trial activated. Purchased it after that, but have some extra lisences if I don't hear back from anyone. I love MBAE, but I love Comodo and its sandbox more!!

 

[bjm_]

These make a lot of sense as well. I actually got a word-based exploit, so I needed the premium MBAE for that , but its all good. Luckily I had the trial activated. Purchased it after that, but have some extra licenses if I don't hear back from anyone. I love MBAE, but I love Comodo and its sandbox more!!

Sorry, the Trial that was active. Was that the HitmanProAlert Trial and the word exploit was sorted by HMPA....
Purchased after that ... meaning Hitman. Extra licenses...meaning Hitman....?

 

[russ0408]

I could be wrong, but I don't think Hitman Pro Alert have a free version anymore. So in that case I go with Malwarebytes Anti Exploit all the way.

 

[enaph]

I could be wrong, but I don't think Hitman Pro Alert have a free version anymore. So in that case I go with Malwarebytes Anti Exploit all the way.

It does but some options (like hardware supported exploit protection) are unactive in free version of HMP.A.