Battle Which Companion Antivirus to pick?

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Christian Aquino

Level 1
Thread author
Jul 11, 2015
12
I've already tried most of them but I still can't pick one since I don't have the knowledge, time or resources to even test them so I'll just ask the community here what they think. I'm particularly looking for something that is not cloud-dependent (meaning it can still have high detection rate even without the cloud). This lowers Zemana and Crystal Security in my list even though they have the highest detection rate in my observation. If possible, it would also be better if it had real-time protextion. Among the list, correct me if I'm wrong, I think MB, Immunet, Crystal Security, XVirus, and SecureAPlus offer it.
 

jamescv7

Level 85
Verified
Honorary Member
Mar 15, 2011
13,070
Let's make it in a deep analysis of each comparison.

  • A such typical user, wanted to obtain the maximum protection as possible. But what do we mean by maximum?
1) If full engines like an almost same reference by Virustotal then check to the following protection products:

Crystal Security - Cloud reference from all AV which you should not be worry for any low and high prevalence of file infections + Own Signatures + Own Heuristics.

Next is SecureAplus * where hold the known engines up to 10 engines (AFAIK) design for rapid response at any circumstances, much better for optimization and results to be accurate. (FP rates should be reduce on that case)

So if you are concern on maximum protection then go either Crystal Security or SecureAplus *.

(It includes whitelisting method to adjust for concrete and control protection within your preferences)
________________________________________________________________


Zemana AntiMalware is an on demand scanner which holds 5-7 engines + in house engine for scan purpose detection capabilities. (One of the tool to include for your emergencies)

___________________________________________________

  • Let's go the other products which design to be companion AV as engine is in-house only and wanted to encourage users to complement from their current setup.
Xvirus is so far the only .Net Framework application next to Crystal Security to maintain active development of AV.


1) Very good on handling the database signatures + Behavior detecting from possible malicious program but expect some mis-flagged alerts which are not harmful at all.

2) MBAM is not totally an AV, but can be a companion where they primarily focus on known threats today especially very low prevalent of files that can be malicious. (Accurate IP Blocking + Realtime protection + scanner option is a pro factor too)

3) Immunet Protection also a pretty fine cloud protection but of course you need a strong AV to complement it as some test before manage to bypass some couple of threats.

Overall choose those product mentioned if you have pretty good AV like Avast, Avira, Qihoo and others then add one product for enough percentage combination.
 

OokamiCreed

Level 18
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Well-known
May 8, 2015
881
I use Zemana Anti-Malware (faster than HitmanPro, more engines, great removal) for on demand and Crystal Security for companion (because it's the only real time secondary that doesn't slow down the computer/conflict with main AV). It also doesn't use excessive RAM. Don't mind if main AV uses like 300-400MB of RAM but secondaries shouldn't be hungry for resources. Malwarebytes has a habit of slowing down the system and using almost 100MB of RAM. Crystal uses about 70% less than that (30-40MB).

SecureAPlus does things similar to Crystal (checking other AV opinion, but not as many as Crystal)... but without the slow downs, increased boot times, and higher disk space usage. SecureAPlus is no doubt a very very good product, I just think Crystal does the job as a secondary better. Way better. Think I covered everything I needed to.
 
D

Deleted member 21043

Hello, I will share my thoughts with you, could potetially help you.

I recommend you use 2 or 3 on-demand scanners alongside your main Antivirus product, I would advise against using more than 3. However, of course the decision is yours.

Zemana Anti-Malware - great product to use, I recommend it. It has a great detection because it incorporates many different antivirus engine scanners into their product (they are licensed to do so, no issues there).

MBAM - another great product to use, it's extremely popular (a lot of them listed are). MBAM receive great feedback from so many people, the detection is good (they have their own engine) and so is the malware cleaning. You don't require the paid version unless you use Real-Time protection for it, I recommend sticking to the free version and using it as an on-demand scanner.

Crystal Security - in my opinion, if you use this, I'd use it for real-time instead of on-demand. I like the fact that it uses VirusTotal integration because it allows me to check if another vendor detects an item or not. But many people use it with no issues. The detection is much better than how it used to be, and I can be considered somewhat a fan of the product, so feel free to ignore my comment on this product (because it might seem like a fan-boy based comment, however it's not aimed to be one, just my true opinion). It should be compatible with any existing Antivirus products also.

Xvirus Personal Guard - in my opinion, I highly advise against it. It's vulnerable to attacks and the developer doesn't have any plans to fix the issues [see: http://malwaretips.com/threads/xvir...ack-and-bug-reports.47677/page-7#post-411787]. The heuristic engine wasn't even developed by the developer (and it's very simple, just a small generic signature database of HEX bytes), and as @FireShootSK said, the FPs can drive you crazy. It's been flagged by products like Norton and has a reputation recently for detecting system files via a bug, which the developer claimed to have been fixed months ago after the full release of the 5.0, however it occured again in a video test by @Antivirus Tester not that long ago. They added in "better checks" to prevent the issue, but what if it happens again and then starts detecting system files, and tricks you into thinking they are infected? The scanner can also be slow which takes up time and system resources, which can be a pain for an on-demand scanner because you always want them to be good and quick. Stick to a product like MBAM over this product until the developer makes some big changes at least. Detection is better due to the HEX detection, still not as it should be.

The cleaning capabilities are also bad. I believe it simply just attempts to delete the detected object... And for the Quarantine, I believe it just changes the extension and shoves it in a folder. I could be wrong. Very unsecure.

However, some use the product and are okay. But I don't think they've actually been infected by a proper infection (like rootkit infection).

SecureAPlus - I believe this is cloud based and free for anyone for one year? I've tested it before, it worked surprisingly well for me, but it was not a thorough test. There are reviews over at YouTube by respected testers.

Immunet - I am sorry, I won't be commenting on this product.

Other on-demand scanners:
HitmanPro - very fast scanning, cloud based. Integrates the BitDefender and Kaspersky engine as well as their own to enhance the detection. Cleaning capabilities are good.
Emsisoft Emergency Kit - uses Emsisofts' own engine and the BitDefender engine.

My favourite combination would be: Emsisoft Emergency Kit (are you aware of this product?), HitmanPro and MBAM. The reason I like Emsisoft Emergency Kit (EEK) and HitmanPro (HP) is because while both have the BitDefender engine, they both have their own engines which do help detect objects on the system. MBAM have their own engine they develop further all the time inside of the company, they started off small and now they are a massive company. They are a great decision.

Out of interest, what Antivirus/Internet Securtiy do you use, if any?

Best of all, try and find out what works for you. What works for me might not work well for you in the end. Only you can decide the products you should be using, test them out and see how it goes (DO NOT DOWNLOAD AND EXECUTE MALWARE ON YOUR REAL SYSTEM).

Cheers. ;)
 

Christian Aquino

Level 1
Thread author
Jul 11, 2015
12
Hello, I will share my thoughts with you, could potetially help you.

I recommend you use 2 or 3 on-demand scanners alongside your main Antivirus product, I would advise against using more than 3. However, of course the decision is yours.

Zemana Anti-Malware - great product to use, I recommend it. It has a great detection because it incorporates many different antivirus engine scanners into their product (they are licensed to do so, no issues there).

MBAM - another great product to use, it's extremely popular (a lot of them listed are). MBAM receive great feedback from so many people, the detection is good (they have their own engine) and so is the malware cleaning. You don't require the paid version unless you use Real-Time protection for it, I recommend sticking to the free version and using it as an on-demand scanner.

Crystal Security - in my opinion, if you use this, I'd use it for real-time instead of on-demand. I like the fact that it uses VirusTotal integration because it allows me to check if another vendor detects an item or not. But many people use it with no issues. The detection is much better than how it used to be, and I can be considered somewhat a fan of the product, so feel free to ignore my comment on this product (because it might seem like a fan-boy based comment, however it's not aimed to be one, just my true opinion). It should be compatible with any existing Antivirus products also.

Xvirus Personal Guard - in my opinion, I highly advise against it. It's vulnerable to attacks and the developer doesn't have any plans to fix the issues [see: http://malwaretips.com/threads/xvir...ack-and-bug-reports.47677/page-7#post-411787]. The heuristic engine wasn't even developed by the developer (and it's very simple, just a small generic signature database of HEX bytes), and as @FireShootSK said, the FPs can drive you crazy. It's been flagged by products like Norton and has a reputation recently for detecting system files via a bug, which the developer claimed to have been fixed months ago after the full release of the 5.0, however it occured again in a video test by @Antivirus Tester not that long ago. They added in "better checks" to prevent the issue, but what if it happens again and then starts detecting system files, and tricks you into thinking they are infected? The scanner can also be slow which takes up time and system resources, which can be a pain for an on-demand scanner because you always want them to be good and quick. Stick to a product like MBAM over this product until the developer makes some big changes at least. Detection is better due to the HEX detection, still not as it should be.

The cleaning capabilities are also bad. I believe it simply just attempts to delete the detected object... And for the Quarantine, I believe it just changes the extension and shoves it in a folder. I could be wrong. Very unsecure.

However, some use the product and are okay. But I don't think they've actually been infected by a proper infection (like rootkit infection).

SecureAPlus - I believe this is cloud based and free for anyone for one year? I've tested it before, it worked surprisingly well for me, but it was not a thorough test. There are reviews over at YouTube by respected testers.

Immunet - I am sorry, I won't be commenting on this product.

Other on-demand scanners:
HitmanPro - very fast scanning, cloud based. Integrates the BitDefender and Kaspersky engine as well as their own to enhance the detection. Cleaning capabilities are good.
Emsisoft Emergency Kit - uses Emsisofts' own engine and the BitDefender engine.

My favourite combination would be: Emsisoft Emergency Kit (are you aware of this product?), HitmanPro and MBAM. The reason I like Emsisoft Emergency Kit (EEK) and HitmanPro (HP) is because while both have the BitDefender engine, they both have their own engines which do help detect objects on the system. MBAM have their own engine they develop further all the time inside of the company, they started off small and now they are a massive company. They are a great decision.

Out of interest, what Antivirus/Internet Securtiy do you use, if any?

Best of all, try and find out what works for you. What works for me might not work well for you in the end. Only you can decide the products you should be using, test them out and see how it goes (DO NOT DOWNLOAD AND EXECUTE MALWARE ON YOUR REAL SYSTEM).

Cheers. ;)
Thank you for this very detailed and helpful answer! :D
To answer your question, I'm currently using 360 TS. I switched from BD since it was slowing my Laptop.
So, I finally decided that I would use Zemana, EEM and HitmanPro as On-demand scanners and Crystal security as a second real-time scanner. Thanks again! :D
 

Kardo Kristal

From Crystal Security
Verified
Top Poster
Developer
Well-known
Jul 12, 2014
1,143
@Everyone Thanks for the opinions about Crystal Security. :)
So, I finally decided that I would use Zemana, EEM and HitmanPro as On-demand scanners and Crystal security as a second real-time scanner.

@Christian Aquino Thank you for using Crystal Security.

Your feedback is much appreciated in Crystal Security thread. :)

Regards,
Kardo
 

Rolo

Level 18
Verified
Jun 14, 2015
857
i know both uses cloud but inmunet uses bitdefender engine when offline and asecureplus has an offline database...
Per your link, it does not:
Immunet Plus offers additional features such as Advanced Offline Protection, Advanced detection and removal, Advanced File Management Protection, and Mail Database Scanning. Immunet Plus does not require another product for complete protection, as it uses the BitDefender scan engine to provide conventional anti-virus protection.

As of June 10, 2014, Immunet Plus is no longer available. Use Immunet Free instead which is still supported by Cisco for commercial use
 

Kate_L

in memoriam
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Jun 21, 2014
1,044
I have Avast Free as antivirus, I also use MalwareBytes Free (scan once a month or something like that). I find most of the products in the list useless.
 
I

illumination

Are any of the above choices even considered an anti virus, or are they like mbam and anti malware? Companion means running realtime in conjunction. Webroot is a example of a companion anti virus..
 

Janl92l

Level 7
Verified
Nov 7, 2014
339
i would go with secureaplus. it should be compatible with all other avs. its hart to beat it as a companion av because of its realy powerful whitelist future(antiexecutable)+u have virustotal results in the popup(or can send it to virustotal)+10 engines in the cloud so if u,for whatever reason click on allow and it is a malware it will pick it up instantly or send it to the cloud for analyse and than pick it up. maybe emsisoft would be a nice pick too but than i would turn of the realtimeprotection and just use the behavourblocker from it.
 
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