Video Review Second Opinion Scanners: F Secure

[cruelsister]

 

[Zero Knowledge]

Looks like another tool to put in the rubbish bin. And 'sorry your infected but we can't delete or fix your PC but link to buy our suite' is just woeful.

 

[jrw666]

So are the full F-Secure products as bad?

 

[SeriousHoax]

You were too kind with your "Sub-optimal" verdict.

 

[likeastar20]

F-Secure is cloud/deepguard dependent

 

[The_King]

Very nice work.

Just watched part 1 and 2 on your YT channel.

Hopefully you do more content like this in the future.

 

[Anthony Qian]

The long standing problem with the F-S is its weak repairing capability. The last time I tested F-Secure, I was impressed that instead of cleaning malicious macros in an infected document, it only allowed the user to skip...

 

[Shadowra]

The F-Secure Online scanner is useless for me because it only scans the memory. I would like F-Secure to improve it.

Where I disagree: F-Secure is an excellent antivirus. But, it has indeed a rather weak disinfection capacity. It can delete, but not when an attack is present in a compressed element (Macro style, Java etc)
Even if it can block it at launch or at copy. I won't blame it for this because some antivirus programs do this, including Avira

 

[Moonhorse]

Never used f-secure virus removal and it seems i never will

After the video i went to see if avira had specific tool for virus removal, i installed their adware /spyware tool....to see if it works. It installed whole avira suite for me ...took like hour to remove it completely

 

[Shadowra]

@cruelsister Bitdefender have created a small scanner, you should try it

Bitdefender Free Antivirus for Windows - Download Software

Bitdefender Antivirus Free offers powerful antivirus protection that is light on computer resources. The only free antivirus that you'll ever need!

www.bitdefender.com

 

[wat0114]

I like the part where it advises: "Try to scan and clean your computer again in a few days", as though it's okay to wait a few days with viruses running rampant on the machine

 

[harlan4096]

@cruelsister Bitdefender have created a small scanner, you should try it

Bitdefender Free Antivirus for Windows - Download Software

Bitdefender Antivirus Free offers powerful antivirus protection that is light on computer resources. The only free antivirus that you'll ever need!

www.bitdefender.com

It seems that tools does not scan for malware.

Also in a few seconds got this:



Seriously? I don't use IE nor Edge! And the 2nd and 3rd item ARE TOTALLY FALSE!!!!!

Uninstalled!!!

 

[Azure]

@cruelsister Bitdefender have created a small scanner, you should try it

Bitdefender Free Antivirus for Windows - Download Software

Bitdefender Antivirus Free offers powerful antivirus protection that is light on computer resources. The only free antivirus that you'll ever need!

www.bitdefender.com

Do you know if this scanner uses their theta engine (machine learning)?

Edit: Okay, from the previous comment it looks like it doesn’t

 

[Shadowra]

Do you know if this scanner uses their theta engine (machine learning)?

No idea, it looks more like a vulnerability scan than an anti-malware scanner .... :/

 

[Azure]

No idea, it looks more like a vulnerability scan than an anti-malware scanner .... :/

Weird. Reading their f.a.q. they state that

What is a “second opinion” scanner?​

Bitdefender Safety Check makes sure you get notified if vulnerabilities are found on your system and your primary security solution fails to protect you from all threats.

What types of threats are detected?​

Bitdefender Safety Check detects if anything has slipped by your current security solution and left a mark on your system. It also detects if something is wrong with your current configuration so you can close security gaps.

How does it prevent additional malware from infecting my system?​

Although it does not protect you against malware on its own, Bitdefender Safety Check lets you test Bitdefender’s world-class antimalware solutions.
You can try Bitdefender Total Security for 30 days (totally free) and see the best detection technologies in action.

They make it sound like it’s also a malware scanner.

 

[Dave Russo]

It seems that tools does not scan for malware.

Also in a few seconds got this:

View attachment 272442

Seriously? I don't use IE nor Edge! And the 2nd and 3rd item ARE TOTALLY FALSE!!!!!

Uninstalled!!!

I got the exact same results, Thank you for your incite, some scanners (have to show (even false fear tactics) to sell there product )Thank you, uninstalled

 

[Digmor Crusher]

I'll ask the same question as I did when you tested EEK. Would the results be the same if you tested with the AV instead of using the Online Scanner. I do not know if they have the same capabilities. Thanks.

 

[SeriousHoax]

It seems that tools does not scan for malware.

Also in a few seconds got this:

View attachment 272442

Seriously? I don't use IE nor Edge! And the 2nd and 3rd item ARE TOTALLY FALSE!!!!!

Uninstalled!!!

Yeah looks like a separate version of their vulnerability scanner. Most AV product's vulnerability scanners are useless and out of date. The one by Bitdefender is more so.

 

[Andrezj]

The long standing problem with the F-S is its weak repairing capability. The last time I tested F-Secure, I was impressed that instead of cleaning malicious macros in an infected document, it only allowed the user to skip...

no security product removal is 100% reliable, accurate or complete; once there is an infection the system (malware running on the system; not just a malicious file sitting in some directory doing nothing), that system can no longer be trusted and the user should perform a clean install of the operating system

But, it has indeed a rather weak disinfection capacity. It can delete, but not when an attack is present in a compressed element (Macro style, Java etc)

file disinfection is not 100% reliable, accurate or complete from any security product; once the file has been infected it can no longer be trusted and the user needs to get rid of it

specific tool for virus removal

any removal tool - portable utility, online removal, removal by boot-script, antivirus boot-loading cd\usb - none of them are reliable enough to trust a machine after it has been infected (infection actively running or has run on the system); the user should perform a clean install of the operating system

oh, i'm sure people do not want to hear this, but it one thing to play with security software to observe the quality of malware removal, it is an entirely different matter when it is a real-world infection on a production machine where users perform online financial transactions and other activities involving valuable personal data

if a user is relying upon security software removal instead of clean installing the operating system, then they're already beat - by the time the removal happens the malware could already have forwarded the public ip address, used arp to ping the manufacturer of the default gateway (router), performed a network ping sweep, stolen cached passwords and license keys, surreptitiously enabled features or configurations that give a threat actor full access (despite the malware detection), etc

too little, too late

 

[cruelsister]

Shadowra​

No idea, it looks more like a vulnerability scan than an anti-malware scanner .... :/

Not only that, but it does not have the ability to fix whatever it finds. Also it stays resident on the system and has a downloader for occasional connections out. Whoever thought that this was a good idea had to have been drunk.

Would the results be the same if you tested with the AV instead of using the Online Scanner. I do not know if they have the same capabilities. Thanks.

I didn't test this out myself with any of the F-Secure products as the last few videos were just about the 2nd opinion scanner ability to detect dropped malware and common persistence mechanisms. The malware used in the videos were chosen for efficiencies sake to give the broadest overview of what should be detected on an infected system and were not chosen for recency. That being said I'm sure FS would have detected them at the first pass, but I would refer you to the much respected Shsdowra who does broader testing.

once there is an infection the system (malware running on the system; not just a malicious file sitting in some directory doing nothing), that system can no longer be trusted and the user should perform a clean install of the operating system

As the past few videos have shown some scanners are poor but some are quite good and are certainly a much better option than a clean install of an OS and the re-installation of all applications (although I'm sure you meant reverting back to a clean disk image if one exists).

but it one thing to play with security software to observe the quality of malware removal, it is an entirely different matter when it is a real-world infection on a production machine where users perform online financial transactions and other activities involving valuable personal data

This exactly shows the need for an excellent 2nd opinion scanner (and conversly the dumping of those of lesser quality)! The data stealer used in the video was undetected and in the Wild for quite a while and infected God knows how many systems, being ignored by the primary protection used. Routine use of a quality 2nd opinion scanner may have mitigated data loss.