Malwarebytes Premium Internet Data Usage

[rgevans]

I recently installed Malwarebytes Premium on my MacBook Air and I'm on a fixed internet satellite data plan.  I've used a significant amount of my monthly data allowance since installing the Malwarebytes software.  I'm wondering if leaving the Real Time Protection on is contributing to the abnormal depletion of my internet data?  I assumed the only data usage this software would use would be when downloading updates and that this amount of data would not be significant.  Is this assumption correct?

[treed]

That assumption is correct. Malwarebytes for Mac is not uploading file samples or anything else... currently, the sole usage of the network is for a basic check-in and to check for and download updates. Database updates are very small, only about 400 K at this time.

The check-in is just to let our systems know the app is there, with a very small amount of non-identifying data, such as the Malwarebytes version and OS version, and should only be performed once per day.

[Miko]

Hi - I've been having the same problem as rgevans. Data usage download spikes, a few times a month (every 7-10 days), about 6GB each time. I'm also on a fixed data plan (50 GB per month), so it matters. I just installed Malwarebytes this month. I've now disabled it. If the problem persists, I'll need to try a program like Little Snitch to see what's using my data. The spikes are regular (always about 6GB: 3  x 2GB downloads at two hour intervals on the days in question). The pattern would seem to rule out someone hacking into my system. Besides, I just changed all the passwords etc on my router. I also notice that my speed is down and I'm getting glitches (mouse stops working etc). I'm on MacBook Pro with El Capitan. Miko

 

[treed]

I can't say what's causing that, but it's definitely not Malwarebytes. The only thing related to Malwarebytes that might cause significant downloads would be a Malwarebytes software update, and that would only be around 11-12 MB.

This is undoubtedly either related to something in the system (perhaps it's trying to download an update, but that's failing and causing it to recur?) or some third-party software.

Using Little Snitch may help, but be aware that you'll see a LOT of strangely-named processes making connections to the internet. Those are likely to be macOS processes, though, so go into the test expecting that. Be prepared to spend a lot of time researching to find out what each process is, so that you can effectively evaluate the connections. Denying legitimate connections in Little Snitch is a common cause of many problems, and can easily cause the Malwarebytes software to stop working properly.

[Miko]

Thanks - I'll see if the spikes continue. If they do, I may sign up for Little Snitch (or something similar). I'm hoping it will indicate that one software process is responsible for the sets of three 1-2 GB downloads, two hours apart, every 10 days or so.