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360 Total Security: Free Antivirus Protection | Virus Scan & Removal for Windows, Mac and Android
[ Some more technical reads can be found here: http://corp.360.cn/ot/cloud-basedtechnologies.html ]
Qihoo has built up a clean, nice looking homepage over the time I’ve been testing it. It can be read in 13 different languages, English and German included.
I won’t lose many words on that, I’m not reviewing their homepage, feel free to visit it on your own.
Only some main points: They not only offer 360 Total Security, but also a version with the extension „Essential“, which is actually the same product, but limited to the Antivirus solution, this one, however is not updated that often.
Also, they offer 360 Total Security for Mac, cannot speak about that.
And they offer Security Software for Android and some kind of Remote control for your AV (named „360 Connect“) for both iOS and Android.
For submitting undetected malware / to report false positives, use False Positives/Suspicious files | 360 Total Security
You need to provide at least your mail address, this is were the analysis report is being sent to (usually the day after you submitted the file(s)).
Resource Usage
Quite low to my experience, not really noticeable, idle with Avira + Bitdefender engine enabled, protection settings maxed out ~230 MB RAM.
GUI
I will do that in parts, just like the Suite is build up.
Let's start with the main interface (better: with the Virus Scan tab). There is one thing I would like to point out, and that is the File Analysis feature. Your suite does (unless deactivated in the settings, which we will come to lateron) suggest to upload suspicious files for further analysis (after you performed a static scan on it), however, you can't prompt that manually. In any case, the suite asks you to be allowed to autoupload before it does so. You can come back to the results by clicking on that button. Cool feature.
On the bottom, you can see the suites own engines, and number 4 and 5 are Bitdefender and Avira (coloured, therefore installed and active).
Let's move on to the Settings (open it by clicking on the = looking button next to the T-Shirt icon top right).
Most settings are preset for good reason, however, I suggest to activate USB Drive protection, to be found in Settings - Active Protection - System.
Next is Speedup. For my experience, a bunch of nice features. It does not only show you how fast / slow your system is currently and logs it, but also helps you to improve your system performance. Highly recommended, but be careful with the manual settings unless you know what you're doing. History speaks for itself, a logbook. Part of the Full Check which can be found in the main window.
Let's move on to Cleanup. A good tool (name speaks for itself), have not come across any issues with using that. Part of the Full Check which can be found in the main window.
Finally, we arrive at the Toolbox. I strongly suggest to use the Browser Protection feature to save your current browser settings (for example the Homepage) from unwanted changes. Works like a charm, but might not stop Toolbars,...
I will get back to the 360 Connect feature lateron again, it's kinda remote control of that suite reviewed here, for both iOS and Android.
Use the other tools with caution, especially the cleanup / disk compression tools, as they might damage your system if you don't know what you're doing. I cannot speak about them, I did not try them out, just because of that reason.
The "Firewall" isn't a real firewall, but a link to GlassWire, which is in the free version offered more a traffic monitor, as it won't notify you about outgoing connections (AFAIK) in the free version, also, it has been quite a resource hog when I used it 0,5-1 year ago.
Patchup will work fabulous on all systems but Windows 10, notifying and downloading updates for Windows.
The = icon on the top let's you view a selection of features, like the logs (yes, the suite logs a lot) or the update feature. I will come back to an issue (better said two, if you count in the need to manually upgrade of the programme) with the updates lateron.
Top left, you surely notice a big Protection:On icon, clicking on that, you can choose out of 3 different presets (from left to right: low system impact - low security, medium system impact - good security, medium system impact - highest possible security, custom). I would suggest to use the "Security" preset. Why? Find the reason at the end of my review.
Themes (T-Shirt icon on the top) You can customize your suite with various predefined designs. Next to it is a option to connect the suite to facebook, to share your boottime.
Additional notes:
Unlike various paid suites using Bitdefender engine, the suite reviewed here will update only twice a day, not hourly. Also, it takes some time to install new definitions at all, this has been unfixed for over an year. Of course, it will use it's own (cloud) engines in realtime. Why this can be a problem, lateron.
Thanks to @silversurfer suggesting me to add that.
Support & FAQ | 360 Total Security
Let's finally come to the important part, the Real World Testing
I invite you to the Malware HUB, where I’ve been testing this Antivirus for quite some time, with stock settings (Balanced mode). This means, no Avira or Bitdefender engines will be used, only Qihoo 360 own cloud engines, PUP detection feature (optional) disabled, however, I have never seen it in action, usually, signatures did delete PUA/PUP like they were viruses.
Be aware that using the suite in it’s stock setting, with only cloud signatures, poses you to a possible risk without a active internet connection.
However, HIPS can really save your day, they turned up at almost every sample which weren’t deleted (automatically with active protection) due to signature detection.
They come up in various ways: Autostart entry blocking, Ransomware protection (I had not one sample breaking it!), altering files, webcam protection...
This one here is a very good example of what the suite is able to do (if everything goes right):
https://malwaretips.com/threads/locky-ransomware-23-06-2016.60837/#post-517865
Of course, it might not stop everything, but it used to do a great job!
I may again emphasize the following part is purely based on my experiences, take it with a grain of salt!
As I already stated in the Pro section, they used to have great signatures, but this month (July 2016), I noticed quite a drop in detection, and the last time I tested it, it did not detect any sample out of the pack.
Ok, these were probably very young, but here it comes:
I submitted every sample which were not detected by signatures, the day after (as usual), the vendor has analyzed them, telling me what you can see on the screenshot on below spoiler.
I was eager to try out if they detect the files now - result - none of the file were blacklisted.
The day before, I tested them on a ShadowDefender protected system, this was the first time HIPS completely failed for me , system was infected by multiple malware. So, they should have flagged the malware (VT Rating for some files was quite high, too).
[ https://malwaretips.com/threads/12-07-2016-10.61321/ ]
With „Security“ Preset activated you will probably be on the safe site, as Avira and Bitdefender engine will be used (remember when I brought that up in the GUI part?
).
Regarding Bitdefender, the update of this engine does still not work flawlessly, I don’t know why, this has been a problem for a long long time.
In any case, chinese PUA/PUP will not be blocked (they might be partly blocked by HIPS if touching sensitivte system settings).
At the time finishing this review, I will have uninstalled Qihoo 360 Total Security.
I have been a big fan of it in the past, but have come across various issues in the last months, also, the shady submission analysis (especially the last one) brought up some unconformatable feeling.
However, I don’t want to make this product worse than it is, au contraire, for being free, it is really awesome, I invite any interested user to try it out to get a feeling if he/she ‘s comfortable with the (quite high) level of protection.
Please make sure use a VM or ShadowDefender (free trial here: Shadow Defender - the easiest PC/laptop security and privacy protection tool) before you drop any malware at it!
Conclusion
I hope Qihoo fixes those issues I described above soon, as it is a really good Antivirus you pay not one pence for. It maybe has been a problem of my installation, but I’ve not come across any issue like that in a year (no reinstallation during that time).
However, I strongly suggest you use a third party firewall, as Windows will (in stock settings) not block any outbound connection (please correct me if I’m wrong, just what I noticed with malware).
Otherwise, you will have a lot of headache with data stealers and other malware being able to call home, not being intercepted (fully) by Qihoo 360 Total Security.
Last words
Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or just want to give feedback, feel free to do so at any time
This is my first review, I hope it is fine
Greetings fly out to both @Jack suggesting to provide this review and @silversurfer being my editor
Big thanks guys!
360 Total Security: Free Antivirus Protection | Virus Scan & Removal for Windows, Mac and Android
[ Some more technical reads can be found here: http://corp.360.cn/ot/cloud-basedtechnologies.html ]
Qihoo has built up a clean, nice looking homepage over the time I’ve been testing it. It can be read in 13 different languages, English and German included.
I won’t lose many words on that, I’m not reviewing their homepage, feel free to visit it on your own.
Only some main points: They not only offer 360 Total Security, but also a version with the extension „Essential“, which is actually the same product, but limited to the Antivirus solution, this one, however is not updated that often.
Also, they offer 360 Total Security for Mac, cannot speak about that.
And they offer Security Software for Android and some kind of Remote control for your AV (named „360 Connect“) for both iOS and Android.
For submitting undetected malware / to report false positives, use False Positives/Suspicious files | 360 Total Security
You need to provide at least your mail address, this is were the analysis report is being sent to (usually the day after you submitted the file(s)).
Resource Usage
Quite low to my experience, not really noticeable, idle with Avira + Bitdefender engine enabled, protection settings maxed out ~230 MB RAM.
GUI
I will do that in parts, just like the Suite is build up.
Let's start with the main interface (better: with the Virus Scan tab). There is one thing I would like to point out, and that is the File Analysis feature. Your suite does (unless deactivated in the settings, which we will come to lateron) suggest to upload suspicious files for further analysis (after you performed a static scan on it), however, you can't prompt that manually. In any case, the suite asks you to be allowed to autoupload before it does so. You can come back to the results by clicking on that button. Cool feature.
On the bottom, you can see the suites own engines, and number 4 and 5 are Bitdefender and Avira (coloured, therefore installed and active).
Most settings are preset for good reason, however, I suggest to activate USB Drive protection, to be found in Settings - Active Protection - System.
Next is Speedup. For my experience, a bunch of nice features. It does not only show you how fast / slow your system is currently and logs it, but also helps you to improve your system performance. Highly recommended, but be careful with the manual settings unless you know what you're doing. History speaks for itself, a logbook. Part of the Full Check which can be found in the main window.
Let's move on to Cleanup. A good tool (name speaks for itself), have not come across any issues with using that. Part of the Full Check which can be found in the main window.
Finally, we arrive at the Toolbox. I strongly suggest to use the Browser Protection feature to save your current browser settings (for example the Homepage) from unwanted changes. Works like a charm, but might not stop Toolbars,...
I will get back to the 360 Connect feature lateron again, it's kinda remote control of that suite reviewed here, for both iOS and Android.
Use the other tools with caution, especially the cleanup / disk compression tools, as they might damage your system if you don't know what you're doing. I cannot speak about them, I did not try them out, just because of that reason.
The "Firewall" isn't a real firewall, but a link to GlassWire, which is in the free version offered more a traffic monitor, as it won't notify you about outgoing connections (AFAIK) in the free version, also, it has been quite a resource hog when I used it 0,5-1 year ago.
Patchup will work fabulous on all systems but Windows 10, notifying and downloading updates for Windows.
Top left, you surely notice a big Protection:On icon, clicking on that, you can choose out of 3 different presets (from left to right: low system impact - low security, medium system impact - good security, medium system impact - highest possible security, custom). I would suggest to use the "Security" preset. Why? Find the reason at the end of my review.
Themes (T-Shirt icon on the top) You can customize your suite with various predefined designs. Next to it is a option to connect the suite to facebook, to share your boottime.
Additional notes:
Unlike various paid suites using Bitdefender engine, the suite reviewed here will update only twice a day, not hourly. Also, it takes some time to install new definitions at all, this has been unfixed for over an year. Of course, it will use it's own (cloud) engines in realtime. Why this can be a problem, lateron.
Thanks to @silversurfer suggesting me to add that.
Support & FAQ | 360 Total Security
Let's finally come to the important part, the Real World Testing
I invite you to the Malware HUB, where I’ve been testing this Antivirus for quite some time, with stock settings (Balanced mode). This means, no Avira or Bitdefender engines will be used, only Qihoo 360 own cloud engines, PUP detection feature (optional) disabled, however, I have never seen it in action, usually, signatures did delete PUA/PUP like they were viruses.
Be aware that using the suite in it’s stock setting, with only cloud signatures, poses you to a possible risk without a active internet connection.
However, HIPS can really save your day, they turned up at almost every sample which weren’t deleted (automatically with active protection) due to signature detection.
They come up in various ways: Autostart entry blocking, Ransomware protection (I had not one sample breaking it!), altering files, webcam protection...
This one here is a very good example of what the suite is able to do (if everything goes right):
https://malwaretips.com/threads/locky-ransomware-23-06-2016.60837/#post-517865
Of course, it might not stop everything, but it used to do a great job!
I may again emphasize the following part is purely based on my experiences, take it with a grain of salt!
As I already stated in the Pro section, they used to have great signatures, but this month (July 2016), I noticed quite a drop in detection, and the last time I tested it, it did not detect any sample out of the pack.
Ok, these were probably very young, but here it comes:
I submitted every sample which were not detected by signatures, the day after (as usual), the vendor has analyzed them, telling me what you can see on the screenshot on below spoiler.
I was eager to try out if they detect the files now - result - none of the file were blacklisted.
The day before, I tested them on a ShadowDefender protected system, this was the first time HIPS completely failed for me , system was infected by multiple malware. So, they should have flagged the malware (VT Rating for some files was quite high, too).
[ https://malwaretips.com/threads/12-07-2016-10.61321/ ]
With „Security“ Preset activated you will probably be on the safe site, as Avira and Bitdefender engine will be used (remember when I brought that up in the GUI part?
).Regarding Bitdefender, the update of this engine does still not work flawlessly, I don’t know why, this has been a problem for a long long time.
In any case, chinese PUA/PUP will not be blocked (they might be partly blocked by HIPS if touching sensitivte system settings).
At the time finishing this review, I will have uninstalled Qihoo 360 Total Security.
I have been a big fan of it in the past, but have come across various issues in the last months, also, the shady submission analysis (especially the last one) brought up some unconformatable feeling.
However, I don’t want to make this product worse than it is, au contraire, for being free, it is really awesome, I invite any interested user to try it out to get a feeling if he/she ‘s comfortable with the (quite high) level of protection.
Please make sure use a VM or ShadowDefender (free trial here: Shadow Defender - the easiest PC/laptop security and privacy protection tool) before you drop any malware at it!
Conclusion
I hope Qihoo fixes those issues I described above soon, as it is a really good Antivirus you pay not one pence for. It maybe has been a problem of my installation, but I’ve not come across any issue like that in a year (no reinstallation during that time).
However, I strongly suggest you use a third party firewall, as Windows will (in stock settings) not block any outbound connection (please correct me if I’m wrong, just what I noticed with malware).
Otherwise, you will have a lot of headache with data stealers and other malware being able to call home, not being intercepted (fully) by Qihoo 360 Total Security.
Last words
Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or just want to give feedback, feel free to do so at any time
This is my first review, I hope it is fine
Greetings fly out to both @Jack suggesting to provide this review and @silversurfer being my editor
Big thanks guys!
Last edited:
