Malwarebytes Premium blocking ALL IOBit software. Why?

[PsYcHoKiLLa]

As the subject says, ALL software from this company is being flagged as PUP and being quarantined, is there a specific reason for this?

IOBit make Driver Booster, Advanced SystemCare, Smart Defrag, Powerful Uninstaller, all products I use and some of which are paid products I own, I'd like to know why they are being blocked, if there is a specific reason, if not then please stop blocking them.

Edited April 8, 2017 by PsYcHoKiLLa

[1PW]

Hello @PsYcHoKiLLa:

Please read Malwarebytes staffer @blender's post at https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/198901-advanced-system-care-pup/?do=findComment&comment=1115452

Thank you.

[PsYcHoKiLLa]

Well, having read the whole thread, I'd like to know what qualifies this software as PUP? If MWB has issues with IOBit then that's between you, why are users being dragged into this? I've added the IOBit folder to exclusions so this should stop MWB's interference but if I re-install Windows this is still going to be a pain.

Any IOBit software which advertises or offers their other software always gives the option to install the other software, users are perfectly able to deny this, that is a practice used by most software manufacturers, even MWB themselves, that does not make software a PUP. So what exactly is the reason it's being blocked?

I've enjoyed MWB's software since it's early days, having been lucky enough to be one of the user's who got a lifetime license, this is very disappointing behaviour.

Edited April 8, 2017 by PsYcHoKiLLa

[khagaroth]

I would wage a guess that the fact that IOBit did at one time steal malware definitions from Malwarebytes did play a mayor role in this decision. And the deceptive setup dialogs aren't helping either.

[1PW]

Hello @PsYcHoKiLLa:

Without getting into the specifics regarding any particular product or vendor, the policy was put into effect by Marcin Kleczynski, Chief Executive Officer, Malwarebytes Corporation in October of 2016 per New Criteria for Detecting Potentially Unwanted Products (PUPs).

If you would like to have an individual finding reconsidered, please do so by sending email, to pup@malwarebytes.com.

Thank you for your understanding.

Edited April 8, 2017 by 1PW

[exile360]

1 hour ago, PsYcHoKiLLa said:

Well, having read the whole thread, I'd like to know what qualifies this software as PUP? If MWB has issues with IOBit then that's between you, why are users being dragged into this? I've added the IOBit folder to exclusions so this should stop MWB's interference but if I re-install Windows this is still going to be a pain.

Any IOBit software which advertises or offers their other software always gives the option to install the other software, users are perfectly able to deny this, that is a practice used by most software manufacturers, even MWB themselves, that does not make software a PUP. So what exactly is the reason it's being blocked?

I've enjoyed MWB's software since it's early days, having been lucky enough to be one of the user's who got a lifetime license, this is very disappointing behaviour.

One of our primary criteria for detecting items as PUP is bundled installers and no, Malwarebytes has never done this.  None of our installers advertise or offer to install any other software/trials etc., only the software that the user downloaded.  Our past issues with IOBit have nothing to do with these detections as those events happened years ago and in all that time we never detected any of their products/software as PUP or anything else.  It was only with our recent change to our PUP policy which became much more aggressive that we started detecting IOBit (along with a lot of other software that meets the new criteria).

[Unicore]

I think the real question is, why use any software made by IObit?  Their software has no value, it's loaded with PUP's and some of it is potentially dangerous to your system as mentioned in several different independent reviews.  Google "IObit safety" for details.

[Telos]

7 hours ago, PsYcHoKiLLa said:

I'd like to know what qualifies this software as PUP?

Google is your friend... here's one..
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forum/helproom-1/beware-advanced-system-care-4271245/

https://community.norton.com/en/forums/pup-report-iobit-pups-mbam-drweb

and of course...reddit...

But the good news is that you can add an MBAM exclusion so that you may benefit from unwanted PUPs and their adware infections. Enjoy!

[BigEd]

I'm starting to see even anti-virus programs flagging iobit software and files on detection. It has been used as a delivery package for garbage thus the flagging and or deleting. So I suggest you not count on it anymore and any progs you use to call their tech support and see what they are planning on doing to change their stuff. I want it blocked on all sides. And yes, my company uses it and they are scrambling to find another way to not use it.

[KevinYu0504]

Why you do not believe Malwarebytes , but trust IObit ?

For me , i prefer trust Malwarebyes .

 

And i had test those software , like IObit or Auslogics product ,

and i absolutely agree those software  detected by PUP is right .

[roger_m]

Personally, I don't like the new agressive detection of PUPs by Malwarebytes.  Whie on one hand, it is possible to whitelist PUPs.  On the other hand it is a real hassle to do so, because you can only select or deselect detected files and registry keys one by one, rather than being able to select all items belonging to a PUP or threat at once.

I use Advanced SystemCare Pro, Driver Booster and IObit Uninstaller.  In my opinion they are all excellent programs, and they are safe to use.  I can understand them being detected due to past actions of IObit.  But surely, the user interface can be improved to make it easy to ignore items.  This has become more of an issue due to the increased detection of PUPs, which has meant that more software that I use is now detected (for example Auslogics Defrag Pro, another program I use, is now also detected).

[Firefox]

2 hours ago, roger_m said:

On the other hand it is a real hassle to do so, because you can only select or deselect detected files and registry keys one by one, rather than being able to select all items belonging to a PUP or threat at once.

That is not the case, you can select all at one time, just check the box on the top like shown in the picture below...

[exile360]

8 hours ago, roger_m said:

I can understand them being detected due to past actions of IObit.  But surely, the user interface can be improved to make it easy to ignore items.  This has become more of an issue due to the increased detection of PUPs, which has meant that more software that I use is now detected (for example Auslogics Defrag Pro, another program I use, is now also detected).

We aren't detecting them due to past actions at all.  It's entirely due to current issues with their installers and software that fit into our PUP classification now, nothing more.  The issue with their past actions has already been dealt with long ago as far as I know and if it hadn't, this wouldn't be the way that we'd deal with it.  We have a legal team to deal with such issues and would never put our users, customers or our own Researchers and their reputations in the middle of such a situation.

As for excluding, yes, the ability to exclude all detections of a specific vendor name/detection name is something we have in our backlog to get included in the program; we simply haven't gotten to this feature yet unfortunately and I don't know when it will be implemented at this point as there are unfortunately quite a few higher priority items on our list right now, especially with the continuing issues some users are having with our software like protection not always functioning as it should.  That said, there are other ways to exclude programs from being detected, and while it doesn't work for the registry as easily, at least a program's folders and files can be excluded more easily.  All you have to do is use the Add Exclusion button on the Exclusions tab under settings to add the program's folder(s) under locations like the Program Files and/or Program Files (x86) directory, ProgramData and any other folder belonging to the program you wish to exclude and this will prevent any items within that folder from being detected by Malwarebytes.  The instructions documented here explain how to do this.  You need to use the Exclude a File or folder option and browse to and select the folder belonging to the software to be excluded and that will prevent that folder and any files it contains from being detected by Malware Protection as well as scans.  This should prevent at least some, if not all of the registry detections as technology within our scan engine often uses files to locate related registry keys and values to detect for the sake of comprehensive detection of threats and PUPs, though there may be some registry items which are still detected depending on how the detections are being made within our database/engine.

Edited April 11, 2017 by exile360

[Telos]

Lock thread request. Asked and answered.