What is Malwarebytes?
Malwarebytes a California-based firm, founded in 2008 is one of the best antivirus firms of 2022. True to its name, Malwarebytes focuses on detecting and removing malicious software, without many of the extras provided by other antivirus software providers. Malwarebytes anti-malware software evolved from a malware detection engine developed by founder Marcin Kleczynski, who stated his goal of creating a free product for computer security for everyone. It currently offers a free version with limited functionality as well as several paid options for home and business users. Our Malwarebytes review is included below.
Pricing and Plans
Malwarebytes antivirus has three different plans: the free version, the premium version, and the premium + privacy version. Let us examine how they differ.
Malwarebytes Free
Malwarebytes Free is the most basic of its plans, and it lacks many of the necessary features found in its premium plans. Its free antivirus’s main feature is on-demand scanning, which scans your system for existing threats that may have been downloaded or introduced via an offline medium, such as an infected USB drive. There is no real-time protection, which scans for threats as they attempt to infect your computer.
Malwarebytes Premium
Malwarebytes Premium costs $3.75 per month for a single device and $6.67 per month for 5 devices. Malwarebytes does not offer a discount for signing up for an annual plan rather than paying monthly – the price paid is the same regardless, with no discounts.
To combat spyware and malware threats, this suite includes real-time malware scanning as well as on-demand scanning. You’ll also get ransomware and brute force protection, as well as phishing protection to keep you safe from fake websites that try to steal your data.
Malwarebytes Browser Guard is also available as a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer for free. This tool prevents ads and trackers from following you around the web. It also prevents cryptojacking attempts and redirects you to a secure page when you visit malicious websites or URLs.
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Malwarebytes Premium Plus Privacy
The top-tier Malwarebytes package includes everything in the Malwarebytes Premium package plus an unlimited VPN. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) helps to protect your online privacy by assigning you a virtual IP address that cannot be traced back to you. A VPN also allows you to watch movies and TV shows that you pay for at home from anywhere in the world.
You’ll get access to 450+ servers in 30 countries and the assurance that its VPN doesn’t log your activities, but it’ll cost you $8.33 per month or $99.99 per year, which is significantly more expensive than standalone VPNs like Surfshark.
All plans include a generous 60-day money-back guarantee, giving you a whopping two months to try out all of Malwarebytes’ features and request a full refund if you’re not satisfied.
Key Features
The Key Features of Malwarebytes are:
Real-time protection
This is a feature that is only available with Malwarebytes Premium – and it is very important.
Real-time protection is a background process that prevents various online threats (such as viruses, malware, and ransomware) from infiltrating your device. It consumes very few system resources and has almost no effect on CPU usage.
Malwarebytes antivirus’s Real-Time Protection feature includes Web Protection (which blocks infected websites), Malware Protection, Ransomware Protection, and Exploit Protection.
Exploit protection
It is a sophisticated security technique that deals with exploit attacks against application security flaws and software vulnerabilities.
These attacks are much more subtle than regular viruses because they only require you to open an infected page or file. Malwarebytes Premium, fortunately, has you covered: it shields vulnerable applications so that malicious code cannot exploit their security flaws.
Browser Guard
Malwarebytes Browser Guard is a browser extension that is available for free on Google Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. It blocks advertisements and protects you from third-party trackers, malware, scams, and PUPs (potentially unwanted programs, e.g., browser hijackers).
It is included with your Malwarebytes antivirus program. However, you have the option of whether or not to install this extension.
Three system scan modes
The three types of system scans are:
- Quick scan – The Malwarebytes quick scan scans your device’s memory and startup objects for active threats for up to a minute and uses between 0% and 2% CPU.
- Threat scan – If you have Malwarebytes Premium, this scan will run every day. It will scan memory objects, startup objects, registry objects, and file system objects, and it will perform a heuristic analysis to improve future protection. Keep in mind that this is not the same as a full scan; it does not cover every nook and cranny of your computer.
- Custom scan – If you want, you can have the custom scan check your entire system. As a result, it may take a little longer: the length of the scan is directly related to the number and size of files on your computer. The greater the quantity, the longer it takes to scan everything. Rootkits, which are among the most difficult malware to detect, can also be scanned.
Quarantined files
When Malwarebytes antivirus detects an infected file on your device, it immediately neutralizes it by placing it in quarantine. However, if you are confident that the file is safe and that the warning was only a false alarm, you can restore it and return it to its original location.
You can also add the file to the Allow list. Malwarebytes will then ignore it in future scans.
Malicious Website Protection
Malwarebytes has a feature called Malicious Website Protection that can help you avoid visiting scams and phishing websites. Furthermore, it prevents malware or potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) from being hosted on your device.
This useful feature, also known as URL filtering, operates straightforwardly, automatically checking and blocking both malicious domains and IP addresses by intercepting relevant DNS queries.
Remember that Malicious Website Protection is only available with the Premium Malwarebytes subscription plan.
Malwarebytes Privacy VPN
A VPN is included in the Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy plan. It is, in fact, one of the most impressive VPN packages that also includes an antivirus. The service covers 30+ countries and has over 450 servers, which is slightly less than dedicated VPN providers. Still, there should be plenty of options for connecting.
The VPN includes the WireGuard tunneling protocol, which is popular among VPN services right now. Given that not all dedicated VPN service providers include it, Malwarebytes’ achievement is truly remarkable.
Furthermore, their connection will be secured with 256-bit encryption. This means no hacker will be able to brute-force their way through it. Not to mention that Malwarebytes’ strict no-logs policy ensures that no backdoors are left in your data.
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Pros
- Generous no-cost plan
- Various security options for personal and commercial use
- Malware detection based on behavior
- Simple to use
- Effective anti-exploit module
- Compatible with other antivirus software
- Rapid VPN
Cons
- Personal plans are a little pricey.
- There is no family plan available.
- Some features that other service providers are missing.
The Bottom Line
Malwarebytes provides a wide range of protection features for home users, including on-demand scans that block the majority of malware that lives on your system. The same cannot be said for its ability to scan in real time. Malwarebytes updates its malware database on a regular basis to keep up with the latest threats, and ransomware and brute force protection are useful for dealing with more sophisticated threats. Its app is simple to use, but it lacks advanced features.
If you’re looking for a VPN, Malwarebytes Premium isn’t the way to go. Given that a VPN is the only additional benefit, the price increase to its top-tier product is quite significant. If you can live without a VPN, Malwarebytes Premium is worth considering.