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Another one bytes the dust


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So Marcin Kleczynski and his Malwarebytes company purchased AdwCleaner:

 

https://press.malwarebytes.com/2016/10/19/malwarebytes-acquires-adwcleaner/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

 

Not a good sign.

 

I used to really admire MBAM until they started getting greedy.

 

Remember when you could purchase a lifetime MBAM license for $19.95?

 

And then the ransomware threat exploded. Suddenly MBAM is now being offered for a 5-dollar increase that will be applied yearly ($24.95) and there is no more lifetime license. And to go along with this drastic price increase is a sudden flooding of the media with articles about the threat of malware, especially RANSOMWARE. Run for your lives!

 

Ant did you know MBAM is working on new anti-ransomware and it will be baked into MBAM! Everyone is saved - if they pay the new yearly $25 fee.

 

Voila! Malwarebytes new business model: EXTORTIONWARE.

 

The new business model will make millions for Marcin. Hell, it already is. Have you seen the NASCAR Malwarebytes sponsored race car? How about the shiny robot at all the security trade shows?

 

What's next? Will he cripple and/or no longer offer MBAM for free? Will AdwCleaner get swallowed up and made part of MBAM premium and disappear? Just watch.

 

"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell."

 

Marcin the millionaire. Shame on you.

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  • Root Admin

As I mentioned to you on BleepingComputer, here are the facts:

1. The product has always been $24.95.

2. When we switched to a subscription model, we grandfathered in every. Single. Customer. Meaning, if you bought it, we honored your lifetime key and continue to do so.

3. We have almost 400 engineers, threat researchers, and more to pay. This is not an easy job, and criminals are way ahead of most security companies.

4. Remediation is FREE. Literally free. We build software to HELP YOU FOR FREE. I can't take the anger and reaction seriously when we clean up 250 million computers a year for FREE. This is not going away, consider this my pledge to the security community.

5. JRT is still maintained and free, AdwCleaner will be as well.

6. $25 a year is still one of the cheapest product on the market, by a substantial amount.

7. Ultimately, you don't have to use the product. Instead of posting hate speech, just go use a competitive product that fits your needs. AdwCleaner is not going away, you can continue to use it without Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/19/2016 at 3:25 PM, mbam-is-extortionware said:

I used to really admire MBAM until they started getting greedy.

 

Remember when you could purchase a lifetime MBAM license for $19.95?

 

And did you know MBAM is working on new anti-ransomware and it will be baked into MBAM! Everyone is saved - if they pay the new yearly $25 fee.

 

What's next? Will he cripple and/or no longer offer MBAM for free? Will AdwCleaner get swallowed up and made part of MBAM premium and disappear? Just watch.

As a computer technician (among other technical roles) with over 10 years experience, I cannot believe your intentions laid out in your post... I've relied on MBAM for almost 6 years now, and on tools on BleepingComputer.com (JRT, ADWCleaner, RKill, etc.) longer than that - all of which were developed by the community, for the community. These tools are indispensable when it comes to cleaning up infected machines and keeping consumers safe when connecting any computer to a network. Eventually, these people have to eat, pay bills, and take care of loved ones, so it only makes sense that they have to make just a wee bit of money to do such things.

  1. MBAM, like any other company, has employees, researchers, and office staff to pay for their hard work. They have families to take care of, and deserve to be paid for the amazing work they do and tools they provide in the security community, most of which are totally free.
  2. I remember; I bought 3 lifetime licenses. They're still lifetime, unlike a few other pieces of software and Android Apps I've purchased for life, only to get converted to a paying user. MBAM isn't throwing the customers who supported them in the beginning under the bus - they're honoring and supporting lifetime customers.
  3. Anti-Ransomware technology is something we're all going to need looking into the future - ransomware has proven to be much more effective in extorting money from not only regular users, but from the banking and medical sectors as well. Wouldn't it be better for the technology to exist as a paid product than not at all?
  4. This one is my opinion: MBAM Free was created to help users cleanse their computers after infection, so their computers are safe again. Once safe, then the users can consider purchasing preventative protection software, which is why MBAM Premium exists, and also why MBAM Free will probably always be Free.

I truly hope your opinion changes @mbam-is-extortionware, because the rate of malware infections and security research is advancing at an alarming rate.

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