App Review Trend Micro Maximum Security 2025

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

Shadowra

Level 38
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Content Creator
Malware Tester
Well-known
Sep 2, 2021
2,765
Trend Micro is a well-known Japanese IT security company.
Relatively widely used in companies and schools, it was one of the first to bet on the 100% Cloud in 2011, switching its software from PC-Cillin to Titanium products (recently modified).

For 2025 as in other years, Trend is keeping to this philosophy of betting everything on the Cloud, but strengthening its protections against unknown scripts and threats, while offering a product totally suited to novices.
Let's take a look at all this together.



Interface :

Like every year, Trend Micro arrives with the same interface.
Even though it's still clear, elegant and customizable (which I've done ^^ ), I would have appreciated a little change, as this interface has been around for quite a long time.
The suite remains fairly light on the system

Web protection: 10/10
All links are blocked by Trend

Fake crack : 1/1
Blocked

Malware Pack : Remaining 31 files out of 86.
The anti-malware engine is improving, but remains fairly average.
Trend, on the other hand, has greatly improved its proactive defenses!
In the test, Trend defends itself correctly against malware and scripts. It even managed to recognize a few malicious schemes (a RAT attempted to inject MSBuilder.exe, which Trend blocked).
But all is not perfect: traces are present, and malware remains active in memory.

Final scan :
Trend : 0
KVRT : 11 (Infection in memory)
NPE : 7

Final opinion:

Trend Micro remains a highly versatile and effective solution.
Its major strength is clearly its Cloud network, which is excellent, as is its ability to block malicious behavior.
Despite some residual infections and active malware in memory, Trend protected us well against the traps I set for it.
A little more effort on the antimalware scan is required!
Trend Micro remains a good solution to protect you, and is recommendable.

@Claudio66 request
 

Trident

Level 34
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
2,360
They’ve definitely improved, they seem to be collecting files from users automatically now and it looks like the memory scan from corporate products has been implemented in home versions. It is part of the VSAPI.

Sometimes, the standard scan would detect nothing, but upon executing, it will produce standard detection.

Sometimes, the standard scan would detect minutes after.

So definitely Trend Micro has strengthened their protection a lot.

I tested it in Hypersensitive mode.
 

Claudio66

Level 1
Apr 9, 2022
26
Trend Micro is a well-known Japanese IT security company.
Relatively widely used in companies and schools, it was one of the first to bet on the 100% Cloud in 2011, switching its software from PC-Cillin to Titanium products (recently modified).

For 2025 as in other years, Trend is keeping to this philosophy of betting everything on the Cloud, but strengthening its protections against unknown scripts and threats, while offering a product totally suited to novices.
Let's take a look at all this together.



Interface :

Like every year, Trend Micro arrives with the same interface.
Even though it's still clear, elegant and customizable (which I've done ^^ ), I would have appreciated a little change, as this interface has been around for quite a long time.
The suite remains fairly light on the system

Web protection: 10/10
All links are blocked by Trend

Fake crack : 1/1
Blocked

Malware Pack : Remaining 31 files out of 86.
The anti-malware engine is improving, but remains fairly average.
Trend, on the other hand, has greatly improved its proactive defenses!
In the test, Trend defends itself correctly against malware and scripts. It even managed to recognize a few malicious schemes (a RAT attempted to inject MSBuilder.exe, which Trend blocked).
But all is not perfect: traces are present, and malware remains active in memory.

Final scan :
Trend : 0
KVRT : 11 (Infection in memory)
NPE : 7

Final opinion:

Trend Micro remains a highly versatile and effective solution.
Its major strength is clearly its Cloud network, which is excellent, as is its ability to block malicious behavior.
Despite some residual infections and active malware in memory, Trend protected us well against the traps I set for it.
A little more effort on the antimalware scan is required!
Trend Micro remains a good solution to protect you, and is recommendable.

@Claudio66 request

Thank you Shadowra !!
For an average user, I think Trend Micro is a good solution. On this forum Trend Micro is not much considered but given value for money I will renew the license for two computers I have in use.
 

Trident

Level 34
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
2,360
Thank you Shadowra !!
For an average user, I think Trend Micro is a good solution. On this forum Trend Micro is not much considered but given value for money I will renew the license for two computers I have in use.
The protection is definitely above average and yeah, for a home user more than enough. The new faster classification seems to be related to this:

 

BigWrench

Level 20
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Apr 13, 2014
976
Great review @Shadowra ✌️
Have it running on my 2 main pc’s and 3 old laptops. Very, VERY lite and effective. Simple and fast. Here’s a 6 month free trial that is still working. Make sure to let it update after installation. Thanks again ✌️

 

TuxTalk

Level 14
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Nov 9, 2022
687
The protection is definitely above average and yeah, for a home user more than enough. The new faster classification seems to be related to this:

Hey @Trident welcome back, how are you m8.
 

anirbandutta01

Level 11
Well-known
Jun 18, 2022
513
Trend Micro is a well-known Japanese IT security company.
Relatively widely used in companies and schools, it was one of the first to bet on the 100% Cloud in 2011, switching its software from PC-Cillin to Titanium products (recently modified).

For 2025 as in other years, Trend is keeping to this philosophy of betting everything on the Cloud, but strengthening its protections against unknown scripts and threats, while offering a product totally suited to novices.
Let's take a look at all this together.



Interface :

Like every year, Trend Micro arrives with the same interface.
Even though it's still clear, elegant and customizable (which I've done ^^ ), I would have appreciated a little change, as this interface has been around for quite a long time.
The suite remains fairly light on the system

Web protection: 10/10
All links are blocked by Trend

Fake crack : 1/1
Blocked

Malware Pack : Remaining 31 files out of 86.
The anti-malware engine is improving, but remains fairly average.
Trend, on the other hand, has greatly improved its proactive defenses!
In the test, Trend defends itself correctly against malware and scripts. It even managed to recognize a few malicious schemes (a RAT attempted to inject MSBuilder.exe, which Trend blocked).
But all is not perfect: traces are present, and malware remains active in memory.

Final scan :
Trend : 0
KVRT : 11 (Infection in memory)
NPE : 7

Final opinion:

Trend Micro remains a highly versatile and effective solution.
Its major strength is clearly its Cloud network, which is excellent, as is its ability to block malicious behavior.
Despite some residual infections and active malware in memory, Trend protected us well against the traps I set for it.
A little more effort on the antimalware scan is required!
Trend Micro remains a good solution to protect you, and is recommendable.

@Claudio66 request

Thank you @Shadowra for your test.
 

BJ Security

Level 1
Apr 4, 2025
14
Trend Micro is a well-known Japanese IT security company.
Relatively widely used in companies and schools, it was one of the first to bet on the 100% Cloud in 2011, switching its software from PC-Cillin to Titanium products (recently modified).

For 2025 as in other years, Trend is keeping to this philosophy of betting everything on the Cloud, but strengthening its protections against unknown scripts and threats, while offering a product totally suited to novices.
Let's take a look at all this together.



Interface :

Like every year, Trend Micro arrives with the same interface.
Even though it's still clear, elegant and customizable (which I've done ^^ ), I would have appreciated a little change, as this interface has been around for quite a long time.
The suite remains fairly light on the system

Web protection: 10/10
All links are blocked by Trend

Fake crack : 1/1
Blocked

Malware Pack : Remaining 31 files out of 86.
The anti-malware engine is improving, but remains fairly average.
Trend, on the other hand, has greatly improved its proactive defenses!
In the test, Trend defends itself correctly against malware and scripts. It even managed to recognize a few malicious schemes (a RAT attempted to inject MSBuilder.exe, which Trend blocked).
But all is not perfect: traces are present, and malware remains active in memory.

Final scan :
Trend : 0
KVRT : 11 (Infection in memory)
NPE : 7

Final opinion:

Trend Micro remains a highly versatile and effective solution.
Its major strength is clearly its Cloud network, which is excellent, as is its ability to block malicious behavior.
Despite some residual infections and active malware in memory, Trend protected us well against the traps I set for it.
A little more effort on the antimalware scan is required!
Trend Micro remains a good solution to protect you, and is recommendable.

@Claudio66 request

Thank you Shadowra for testing Trend Micro Maximum Security in 2025. Since Trend Micro improved this from the previous generation.

I've watched it -- from Odysee

In my opinion, it seems Trend Micro Maximum Security does a pretty good job preventing malwares, online threats, and archive, but it tends to create as many false positives which can be annoying for some users. Overall, for home users, it's a good antivirus in 2025, but it is a "Third-party antivirus", so I will expect Trend Micro to be safe to use.
 

Trident

Level 34
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
2,360
I’ve noticed some patterns are now much more frequently updated than before.

In the past, patterns related to behavioural blocking would be updated every now and then, now, Threat Behaviour Tracing Pattern receives pretty much daily updates (at least so far). The Smart Scan Server pattern used to receive one update daily, now it’s few updates. Other patterns like Advanced Threat Correlation Pattern seem to be updated more often as well. Looking at the patterns content, Trend Micro seems to use much more heuristics than before (they start with possible_) and seems to have broadened the coverage, now detecting also html phishing and other nasties.

It’s possible that a change of management may have happened.

From the last smart scan agent pattern:
Backdoor.Win64.KRUSTYLOADER.SMYXFDWYZ
HG_PSSHELL.SM1
Possible_SMSILENTPRISMYXFCR
Ransom.PS1.NUMEC.SMYXFDN
Trojan.HTML.REDIRECTOR.SMTPTVLNT
Trojan.PS1.ENCRYPTRAT.SMYXFCW
Trojan.PS1.KILLPROC.SMYXFCV
Trojan.PS1.RHADAMANTHYS.SMYXFCG
Trojan.PS1.STEALC.SMYXFCR
Trojan.VBS.DOWNLOADER.SMTRXVLNT
Trojan.Win32.GOLANGGHOST.CRCA
Trojan.Win32.GOLANGGHOST.CRCB
TrojanSpy.PS1.FICKLESHADE.SMYXFCD-A


IMG_1628.jpeg
 
Last edited:

BSONE

Level 3
Verified
Feb 17, 2024
102
My translation program translates "mate" into German as "Tod". That means "death." We really don't want that. :)
Very interesting. The whole idea of mate or mateship in Australia is about social interaction with other mates.This usually means having vast quantities of beer in the Pub, so "death" could also mean proper Aussie alcohol intoxication. This is usually temporary and is remediated the following morning by a good feed of bacon and eggs and a visit to the crapper. 10 minutes later the pub opens and we go again.
 

piquiteco

Level 14
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Oct 16, 2022
674
@Shadowra I just watched your test video of Trend Micro Maximum Security 2025. I used it at the time during the pandemic and it wasn't bad, now looking at your video they have improved their detection mechanism even more. I know Trend Micro at the time that was called PC-Cillin that came on a CD when you bought a new computer and had a drawing of a syringe on the CD cover. I'm getting really old LOL I don't know if you're from that era or if there's anyone here who remembers it? BTW, I loved the soundtrack of the video, you have good taste. ;)
 

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