Malwarebytes' quality slipping?

I had steered my mom to this website because she was having computer issues and i couldn't figure it out.
but, she had mentioned that ESET had found things Malwarebytes' didn't, and malwarebytes' is supposed to be the big gun in my small arsenal of programs that help me with crappy computers (usually ones with viruses.)

So I guess 2 questions. Anybody else having the same feelings towards Mbam, and a program like Mbam (or ESET maybe), preferably free, that will find and remove any virus, worm, or trojan ailing my computer..

please and thanks

Edit: My apologies for putting into the wrong forum to begin with. Wasn't really looking, had a rough day XD Thanks, Animal

Edit: Moved topic from All Other Applications to the more appropriate forum. ~ Animal

Others more qualified with malware removal will have more to say. But the short version is you are comparing apples to oranges. You are comparing an Anti-Malware tool to an Anti-Virus application. They are two different things and their definition files are looking for different things. There is no one tool that does it all. That is the very reason we always suggest a 'layered' approach to building a security arsenal.

Others more qualified with malware removal will have more to say. But the short version is you are comparing apples to oranges. You are comparing an Anti-Malware tool to an Anti-Virus application. They are two different things and their definition files are looking for different things. There is no one tool that does it all. That is the very reason we always suggest a 'layered' approach to building a security arsenal.

I thought that Viruses and Malware came hand in hand. Aren't Viruses always Malware, but Malware isn't always a virus?

I thought that Viruses and Malware came hand in hand. Aren't Viruses always Malware, but Malware isn't always a virus?

Malware is a "general term" that can cover almost anything from Adware to Virus to Rootkit to Fake / Rogue Infections to Trojans and the many variants between.
Others (more experienced) will put it in other terms, but basically any sort of infection these days, is now called Malware -

You have not even included Firewalls as part of the mix, yet this "extra" can also be a main part of your defense against infections and spyware.
Just my 2 cents worth -

Regards -
EDIT - Also the Pro version of MBAM (proactive) and the Free version (retroactive) behave in their own ways to Prevent or just help Find infections that may already be on a computer and become harder to remove once installed -

Morning Jayson201.

I feel compelled to jump in and give you my impression of MBAM, which I love and trust very much.

As noknojon points out, the PRO version of MBAM behaves quite differently than the Free version. I ran the Free version for almost a year and then decided to upgrade, which has been a huge plus for me, as I don't always practice the Safe Surfing that most BC members recommend.

When I'm out poking around on the less-than-friendly websites on the Internet, sometimes my MBAM will block something nasty, and at other times, my avast! will kick in and say, "oh, no Winterland, perhaps you shouldn't go to that website!"


If you are only running the Free versions of (fill in the blank) I can't stress enough to make sure everything is up to date and that you actually run Full Scans with what ever app you decide to use because, as noknojon points out, the Free versions will find infections, where as some/most of the Paid versions will (most of the time) attempt to prevent infections from happening in the first place.

I use MBAM Pro in concert with avast! on one machine and MBAM Free with MSE on another machine, and so far things everything has worked well.

Hope that helps.

Winterland

Malware comes in so many forms that multiple, overlapping tools are needed to maximize your protection.

Each program is different. One may find something another didn't find.

The most important thing is to use REPUTABLE programs.

No single product is 100% foolproof and can prevent, detect and remove all threats at any given time. Just because an anti-virus detected threats which Malwarebytes missed, does not make it more effective as both are needed...they scan for different things.

Further, the security community is in a constant state of change as new infections appear and it takes time for them to be reported, samples collected, analyzed, and tested by anti-vendors. Security vendors use different scanning engines and different detection methods such as heuristic analysis or behavioral analysis which can account for discrepancies in scanning outcomes. Depending on how often the anti-virus or anti-malware database is updated can also account for differences in threat detections.

When compared to other security tools like Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware, the advantage of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is that it uses a proprietary low level driver similar to some anti-rootkit (ARK) scanners to locate hidden files and special techniques which enable it to detect a wide spectrum of threats including active rootkits. IMO it has proven more effective than many of the stand-alone ARK tools which are available. Malwarebytes intentionally does not search for and remove cookies which pose no significant threat. The research team investigates new rogue applications and malicious files so the database is usually updated several times a day in an aggressive effort to keep it current. Scanning is performed quickly while other tools can take hours.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is designed to remove malware as effectively with a Quick Scan as it will with a Full Scan which takes much longer to complete. Both scans use heuristics that bypasses polymorphic blackhat packers & encryption, MD5 Hash, check memory (loaded .exes and .dlls), unique strings, autostart load points and hotspots (everywhere current malware is known to load from) and multiple other malware checks which are not discussed in public to safeguard the program from malware writers who would use that information for nefarious purposes.

You may also want to read: Glossary of Malware Related Terms