Malware experts at SE Labs use a capture and replay system to hit every tested antivirus with the exact same real-world malware attack. A score of 17.5 points is enough to earn the title Top Product Malwarebytes Premium and a few others scored 17.5. Just over half the products in the latest report scored a perfect 18 points, among them Microsoft, Norton AntiVirus Plus, and Kaspersky.

This lab rates antivirus products in three categories, Protection, Performance, and Usability, with six points available for each. Its scores have varied quite a bit, but it looks quite good in the latest report. More recently, Malwarebytes has been showing up in reports from AV-Test Institute. In the past, Malwarebytes didn’t submit even its Premium edition to most of the labs I follow. A lab test that uses outdated samples could make the product look bad.

This emphasis on active, prevalent threats and advanced detection methods makes testing Malwarebytes tough. The anti-ransomware engine strictly uses behavioral detection. Exploit protection watches attack vectors and heads off exploits. In Malwarebytes Premium, machine learning and detection of anomalous behavior catch many malware samples. Every successful antivirus adds heuristic detection, behavior-based detection, and other non-signature protection layers. Simple-minded signature-based malware detection alone isn't enough in the modern world of zero-day attacks and polymorphic malware. The middle panel, the important one, lets you launch a scan for malware. One displays detection history, and one displays real-time protection options, all of which are disabled in the free edition. The rest of the window consists of three rectangular panels. A banner across the top of the pastel-toned main window features silhouettes of mountains, clouds, and a city skyline, adorned with a big message suggesting that you upgrade to premium. I found that the product installed very quickly.

The free version is full of subtle and not-so-subtle suggestions to spring for the upgrade to Premium. It does just one thing it cleans up existing malware problems. In particular, the free edition, reviewed here, doesn't include any real-time protection. If you let the trial expire without upgrading, you'll find that you lose quite a few features. When you install the free edition, you can choose a 14-day trial of Malwarebytes Premium.

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