Q&A [Updated 29/12/2018] Browser extension comparison: Malwares and Phishings

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Think I may think about replacing Emsisoft with trafficlight eventually.

~LDogg

I think you won't be disappointed. It's one the best right now.

 

[LDogg]

I think you won't be disappointed. It's one the best right now.

Think you maybe right!

~LDogg

 

[Azure]

So, now that time has passed. What is the general opinion here of Emsisoft browser security?

 

[oldschool]

So, now that time has passed. What is the general opinion here of Emsisoft browser security?

BDTL & WDBP > Emsi. MBBG may be better but I have issues with its weight and bloat.

 

[blackice]

BDTL & WDBP > Emsi. MBBG may be better but I have issues with its weight and bloat.

Did the latest BDTL ask you for new permissions to interact with programs outside of the browser? The Firefox app asked me that the other day. So I deleted it.

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Did the latest BDTL ask you for new permissions to interact with programs outside of the browser? The Firefox app asked me that the other day. So I deleted it.

What would be a good alternative to BDTL?
Latest version doesn't work reliable anymore with Edge Dev.

 

[oldschool]

Did the latest BDTL ask you for new permissions to interact with programs outside of the browser? The Firefox app asked me that the other day. So I deleted it.

If you mean this permission "Communicate with cooperating native applications" then yes.

@Gandalf_The_Grey - it's working well here.

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

If you mean this permission "Communicate with cooperating native applications" then yes.

@Gandalf_The_Grey - it's working well here.

Okay, thanks, must be something on my system then. Was not blocking anything after the update. Will try again.

 

[blackice]

What would be a good alternative to BDTL?
Latest version doesn't work reliable anymore with Edge Dev.

For Edge (I use the beta) I just let smart screen do it’s thing.

If you mean this permission "Communicate with cooperating native applications" then yes.

If I remember correctly it was worded slightly differently on FF, but I could be misremembering. I actually had it disabled already. MBBG works fine for me in FF, which I don’t use all the time anyway.

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Okay BDTL still not working like before. Less aggressive. Normally it blocks first before SmartScreen kicks in. Now most of the time no response.
Have swapped with Malwarebytes Browser Guard. MBG kicks in befor SmartScreen. Sort of how BDTL was before the last update.
Tested this with the latest links of VX Vault and with OpenPhish.

 

[oldschool]

For Edge (I use the beta) I just let smart screen do it’s thing.

I usually do the same, but SS missed some fresh links I just tested. There were a few very slick imitation sites, e.g. PayPal, etc. But who doesn't check their address bar when they go to site where they sign in for email, payments, etc.???

@Gandalf_The_Grey I've only used Phishtank today but I'll try VX Vault and OpenPhish. MBG for you is

 

[oldschool]

Smartscreen did really well on OpenPhish.

 

[Pat MacKnife]

Okay BDTL still not working like before. Less aggressive. Normally it blocks first before SmartScreen kicks in. Now most of the time no response.
Have swapped with Malwarebytes Browser Guard. MBG kicks in befor SmartScreen. Sort of how BDTL was before the last update.
Tested this with the latest links of VX Vault and with OpenPhish.

I have the same feeling with BDTL, like no response .... i use beta Edge chromium.

 

[Protomartyr]

With the recent change in Bitdefender's Traffic Light permissions and some privacy concerns, I've been trying to find a suitable replacement for it. Malwarebytes Browser Guard seems like a good choice, but I already have Malwarebytes Premium (a lifetime license) that includes a web component.

At first I thought it would be redundant to have both the Malwarebytes extension and the web component (from Premium) active. I did find this this post on the Malwarebytes forums saying that they complement each other.

What are y'alls thoughts on this?

 

[blackice]

With the recent change in Bitdefender's Traffic Light permissions and some privacy concerns, I've been trying to find a suitable replacement for it. Malwarebytes Browser Guard seems like a good choice, but I already have Malwarebytes Premium (a lifetime license) that includes a web component.

At first I thought it would be redundant to have both the Malwarebytes extension and the web component (from Premium) active. I did find this this post on the Malwarebytes forums saying that they complement each other.

What are y'alls thoughts on this?

I’ve seen that comment from MB before, and I’m not sure. The premium is pretty good at web filtering and blocking malicious sites. I think the extension helps block ads/unwanted sites. If you just want a malware/phishing filter I’ve always felt the premium was enough. I know they say they block it with signatureless, but I’m not sold on it.

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

With the recent change in Bitdefender's Traffic Light permissions and some privacy concerns, I've been trying to find a suitable replacement for it. Malwarebytes Browser Guard seems like a good choice, but I already have Malwarebytes Premium (a lifetime license) that includes a web component.

At first I thought it would be redundant to have both the Malwarebytes extension and the web component (from Premium) active. I did find this this post on the Malwarebytes forums saying that they complement each other.

What are y'alls thoughts on this?

It looks like a great extension, but I feel some slowdown when opening pages.
I'm going to test Avast and Netcraft as well and see who's the winner for me.

 

[blackice]

It looks like a great extension, but I feel some slowdown when opening pages.

I find premium to not bog down my own system, but that extension plus premium would probably slow down things quite a bit on a modest system. I do find FF slightly slower when I use the MBBG extension. However the difference between a page loading twice as fast as 1 second isn’t a big difference to me. I’m not constantly hopping pages. But I’ve seen a couple load painfully slow.

 

[Protomartyr]

I used MBBG on Firefox for Android and there is a noticeable hit on page loading so I had to uninstall it. I actually wouldn't mind if pages loaded a tad slower on my laptop but on mobile it was unbearable.

 

[oldschool]

Probably Netcraft would be a good replacement for those that don't work well for you.

Edit: And I'd trust them more than Avast.

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Test results on Edge Dev 79.0.287.3:
16 links ( 7 OpenPhish, 6 VX Vault, 3 URLhaus):
Avast 6/16 (6 OpenPhish links, failed on the rest).
Bitdefender 2/16 (2 OpenPhish links failed on the rest).
Emsisoft 5/16 (5 OpenPhish links, failed on the rest).
Malwarebytes 13/16 (5 OpenPhish links, 5 VX Vault links and all 3 URLhaus links).
Netcraft 5/16 (5 OpenPhish links).
SmartScreen 6/16 (6 OpenPhish links, failed on the rest).

With SmartScreen enabled Edge Download protection (9/16) warned/blocked all VX Vault and URLhaus downloads.
Without SmartScreen Windows Defender (9/16) blocked all VX Vault and URLhaus downloads.

So there is definitely something wrong with the latest version of Bitdefender TrafficLight on the latest Edge Dev!
Edge Dev with SmartScreen should be enough in this test and the only option for me now could be Malwarebytes Browser Guard.

Disclaimer: too small a set of links to take this test seriously. Just an indication.