Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Premium Review

[Chromatinfish 123]

After the fiasco and embarrassment from Malwarebytes very low -60 score in Dennis Tech Lab test, we ask, is this well-known app really worth downloading/buying? You'll find out. I will give credit to:
@Manzai
@Malware Test

For the tests for me to add on (I only have Ubuntu and Chrome OS VM)!

User Interface (5 points)
Malwarebytes nailed this part. It's new UI is quick & easy, with no bugs whatsoever. It's such an improvement from the original v1 edition that I give it an extra point (which I usually don't)! The only bad thing is that the window closes when minimizes, but that's not bad because you won't have the UI on all of the time
UI: 6 out of 5 points

Prevention/Protection (10 points)
Malwarebytes real time protection is fair, some malware (mostly PUPs) got through but the scanner caught them. Web Protection shows they blocked a site but the site still shows?! Please alert me if Malwarebytes only blocks a script or iframe in a website, so I can up the score, but for now, Malwarebytes earns:
Prevention/Protection: 6 out of 10 points

Detection/Cleanup (8 points)
Malwarebytes really excels in this area, it has very high detection rate and detected and cleaned up successfully PUP like Ask Toolbar, Search Protect, and Mobogenie. Full points, guys
Detection/Cleanup: 8 out of 8 points

Performance (8 points)
Malwarebytes has literally no performance affect. Startup time is the same, if not for the icon, we wouldn't know it was there! Scans, unlike, HitmanPro, do not affect/burn the CPU when running. However, they are long, unlike Hitman.
Performance: 7 out of 8 points

Total Points Possible: 31 points
Total Points Earned: 27 points (Very Good)

Dismal: 0-6 points
Poor: 7-10 points
Fair: 11-16 points
Good: 17-22 points
Very Good: 23-27 points
Chromatinfish's Choice: 28-31 points

 

[Oxygen]

I hate malwarebytes premium because it blocks alot of legit sites.

 

[Anupam]

"UI: 6 out of 5 points"

It seems like you are overrating it

 

[Malware1]

You forgot to say:

Thanks to @Malware1 for the license

 

[Chromatinfish 123]

You forgot to say:

Oh, forgot

 

[King Alpha]

Great review man!

 

[Deleted member 178]

User Interface (5 points)
Malwarebytes nailed this part. It's new UI is quick & easy, with no bugs whatsoever. It's such an improvement from the original v1 edition that I give it an extra point (which I usually don't)! The only bad thing is that the window closes when minimizes, but that's not bad because you won't have the UI on all of the time
UI: 6 out of 5 points

i will say 3/5 ;

- big ad banner you can't suppress
- when you disable some functions, you still have a red alert on tray icon...

 

[Aura]

"Web Protection doesn't really work (for me)"
Blocks : Chrome.exe, svchost.exe, Skype.exe, uTorrent.exe, etc. Well, it doesn't actually "blocks" any of these processes, it only alerts you of a "suspicious connection" which is most likely a false positive, hence why I have it turned off (Web Protection Module).

 

[donetao]

"Web Protection doesn't really work (for me)"
Blocks : Chrome.exe, svchost.exe, Skype.exe, uTorrent.exe, etc. Well, it doesn't actually "blocks" any of these processes, it only alerts you of a "suspicious connection" which is most likely a false positive, hence why I have it turned off (Web Protection Module).

Hi ! It works well for me. Would you rather be alerted to a possible malicious IP or would you rather not be alerted and infect a friend's PC.
That's what can happen if you don't research the IP that MBAM alerts you to. I've been there.
Personally I'll leave mine turned on and I really haven't seen any FP yet. The IP's I have traced have been from Russia and China. What does that tell you??
Thanks MBAM! You Rock!!

 

[Moose]

Compatible problems with SandBoxie!
Using CyberFox Browser.....

Kind regards,

 

[Aura]

Hi ! It works well for me. Would you rather be alerted to a possible malicious IP or would you rather not be alerted and infect a friend's PC.
That's what can happen if you don't research the IP that MBAM alerts you to. I've been there.
Personally I'll leave mine turned on and I really haven't seen any FP yet. The IP's I have traced have been from Russia and China. What does that tell you??
Thanks MBAM! You Rock!!

Connecting to trackers from China and Russia for torrents. Doesn't mean they are malicious.
Talking to someone on Skype that uses a VPN from China. Doesn't mean that person is a hacker/spreader.
Etc.

 

[donetao]

Connecting to trackers from China and Russia for torrents. Doesn't mean they are malicious.
Talking to someone on Skype that uses a VPN from China. Doesn't mean that person is a hacker/spreader.
Etc.

Hi! All I know is MBAB blocked over 700 Chinese IP"s for me. So you tell me what they were up to.
I don't talk to anyone from China on Skype. I'm not accusing anyone being a hacker. I'm just saying I'm going the leave my Web protection on and deal with any FP, which I have never gotten. If I think one might be a FP, then I send it to VirusTotal and let them check it out. So far I haven't had a FP. I would think it has a lot to do with how you surf the Web?
https://www.virustotal.com/
I will post the next IP that MBAM thinks is malicious, and you decide.

 

[randj89]

I love the program for scanning. I used to have it running on real time since that's one of the benefits but my laptop boot time was taking forever and I couldn't find the culprit, once I disabled the automatic start my boot time went super fast. The difference is noticeable and never thought malwarebytes was so heavy on system booting. But well I still have it for scanning and it does a really good job detecting stuff.

 

[donetao]

Here is a quote from Malwarebytes forum! It may be different for other users, but like this quote I don't see that much of a delay.
I'll take a small delay if it means better protection.

1. TBH, not much at all, not that I can notice. I am on a Win 7 machine that I built, that does not use UEFI, but a regular BIOS boot with MBR HD control. I do not see any long term affects, if there is any change at all, it would h
2. Enable self-protection early start: When the self-protection module is enabled, you may choose to enable or disable this option. When enabled, the self-protection module will become enabled
3. earlier in the computer's boot process — essentially changing the order of services and drivers associated with your computer's startup.
4. ave to be less than a second added to my total boot time, which is still not much over 30 seconds from cold start to log in.

 

[Aura]

Hi! All I know is MBAB blocked over 700 Chinese IP"s for me. So you tell me what they were up to.
I don't talk to anyone from China on Skype. I'm not accusing anyone being a hacker. I'm just saying I'm going the leave my Web protection on and deal with any FP, which I have never gotten. If I think one might be a FP, then I send it to VirusTotal and let them check it out. So far I haven't had a FP. I would think it has a lot to do with how you surf the Web?
https://www.virustotal.com/
I will post the next IP that MBAM thinks is malicious, and you decide.

What if you go on a website where ads are from China/Russia or a website hosted on a Chinese/Russian servers ?
There's a logical explanation to all these alerts but if you get them too often, then you're most likely doing something wrong OR you're already infected and you don't know about it yet.

I'll tell it again and will never stop saying it : Malwarebytes Web Protection Module throws random warnings on almost any programs that connects to a foreign IP address, even when it's a legitimate one.

Malwarebytes shouldn't handle your Web Protection, your Antivirus/Firewall should.

 

[donetao]

Hi My friend! You don't know my story and you don't read my replies very carefully. I'm not infected and I'm not doing any thing wrong.
Maybe there's a reason MBAM throws up a red flag when you connect to a foreign IP address.
I may be new to the MT forum,but I'm no newbie to the computer world and this is not my first rodeo.
Yes Your Antivirus, Wireless router, and Firewall help protect you and then MBAM kicks in and does the rest.
I have grow up with MBAM and MBAM rocks.
PS I don't visit China/Russia web sites.

 

[Aura]

Hi My friend! You don't know my story and you don't read my replies very carefully. I'm not infected and I'm not doing any thing wrong.
Maybe there's a reason MBAM throws up a red flag when you connect to a foreign IP address.
I may be new to the MT forum,but I'm no newbie to the computer world and this is not my first rodeo.
Yes Your Antivirus, Wireless router, and Firewall help protect you and then MBAM kicks in and does the rest.
I have grow up with MBAM and MBAM rocks.
PS I don't visit China/Russia web sites.

I don't think you really understand what I'm saying here. I know you from another forum and I can tell that your knowledge is pretty limited when it comes to some domains of Computing (no offense), hence why you might not understand really how Malwarebytes throws these warnings and from where they come.

You don't visit Chinese/Russian websites. Cool, what if you visit a website with ads hosted on a Chinese/Russian website/server that is "blacklisted" or "suspicious" to Malwarebytes ? You aren't directly infected, Malwarebytes just warns you about a connection from your web browser to that website, but it'S because it'S loading and dislaying the ad, that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.
Anyway, would take years to argue with you and teach you some basic knowledge, hopefully you'll understand everything I'm telling you right here one day.
Have a good day.

 

[donetao]

Hi This is not my first rodeo. I have had both China/Russia attempt to hack into my PC.
I have reported it to authorities. Not you or any one here on MT will convince me that there have not been several attempts to hack into my PC.
This discussion is over. I may know more than you think my friend.
I'm well aware of how the Chinese like to steal data from USA. MBAM is just one example of this and I seriously doubt if any thing has changed with the way they do business. That has all been settled and does not need to be brought up again here on MT forum.
Thank you for your reply.
You also have a good day