DO I STILL NEED ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE IF I HAVE MALWAREBYTES?

[Ceedubya]

?Help!  I'm running Vista and been scammed left right and centre looking for protection. 

[alice_123]

Viruses are a specific type of malware designed to replicate and spread, while malware is a broad term used to describe all sorts of unwanted or malicious code. Malware can include viruses, spyware, adware, nagware, Trojans, worms, and more. Anti malware software is definitely more complete than antivirus programs and it a much better purchase because you will run in to at least two types of malware. 

One of the tools I use quite often to remove viruses from PCs is the Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware program. It works great for removing malicious software from your computer like viruses, worms, trojans. 

Yeah I feel so that you should have it. 

[exile360]

Greetings,

No, you don't need to run an antivirus alongside Malwarebytes to be fully protected, however Malwarebytes is designed in such a way that if you wish to run an active antivirus alongside it you may do so should you desire to have that additional layer of protection that an antivirus would provide.  Please refer to the information in this post for more information.

You should also find the information on this page to be quite informative.  It breaks down the various layers included in the paid version of Malwarebytes 3 and how each functions to stop attacks in their tracks using many different techniques to defend your system.

If there is anything else we might assist you with please don't hesitate to let us know.

Thanks

[David H. Lipman]

6 hours ago, alice_123 said:

Viruses are a specific type of malware designed to replicate and spread, while malware is a broad term used to describe all sorts of unwanted or malicious code. Malware can include viruses, spyware, adware, nagware, Trojans, worms, and more. Anti malware software is definitely more complete than antivirus programs and it a much better purchase because you will run in to at least two types of malware. 

One of the tools I use quite often to remove viruses from PCs is the Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware program. It works great for removing malicious software from your computer like viruses, worms, trojans. 

Yeah I feel so that you should have it. 

The first paragraph is semi-true. The "completeness" of the two products however is debatable.   Viruses do self replicate and autonomously spread and malware is the overarching concept of malicious software which also includes Exploit Code. 

I also note the mixed font in the reply and easily found the content was all ready authored.  It is not nice to plagiarize content.  One has to know the subject matter and be able to write content based upon their own knowledge, using their own words, and not copy another's written words.  If one does copy the content of another then you must attribute the original author with no exceptions.

Google Dork

The second is not so true.

MBAM is incapable of dealing with File Infecting Viruses.  That is MBAM is incapable or removing malicious code that has been prepended, appended or cavity injected into a legitimate file.  MBAM can not "remove" true viruses such as Virut, Parite and Sality because MBAM can not remove the malicious code and bring the file back to its original state.  This is also true for what is a deemed a trojanized or patched file.  At best MBAM will try to replace it with a known clean, unaltered, file.  That is why it is an anti malware and NOT an anti virus product  MBAM may prevent a viral infection but it can't handle true viruses such a file infecting virus.  MBAM targets mainly non-viral malware.  The exception being a virus dropper ( a malware file that drops a virus and starts a virus infection but is not infected with the virus ) and worms ( such as Internet worms and AutoRun worms ).

MBAM does not target script malware files via signaures. That means MBAM will not target; JS, JSE, PY, .HTML, HTA, VBS, VBE, .CLASS, SWF, SQL, BAT, CMD, PDF, PHP, WSF, etc.
It also does not target via signatures document files such as; PDF, DOC, DOCx, DOCm, XLS, XLSx, PPT, PPS, ODF, RTF, etc.
As well as it not targeting media files via signatures;  MP3, WMV, JPG, GIF, etc.

Until MBAM, v1.75, MBAM could not access files in archives but with v1.75 came that ability so it can unarchive a Java Jar (which is a PKZip file) but it won't target the .CLASS files within. Same goes with CHM files (which is a PKZip file) but it doesn't target the HTML files within. MBAM v1.75 specifically will deal with; ZIP, RAR, 7z, CAB and MSI for archives. And self-Extracting; ZIP, 7z, RAR and NSIS executables (aka; SFX files).

MBAM specifically targets binaries that start with the first two characters being; MZ
They can be; EXE, CPL, SYS, DLL, SCR and OCX. Any of these files types can be renamed to be anything such as;  TXT, JPG, CMD and BAT and they will still be targeted just as long as the binary starts with 'MZ'.
 

 

Where a traditional anti virus application is weak, MBAM is strong.  Today's malware is much more complex than 10 years ago.  When we saw the Melissa virus ( I-Worm via SMTP  ), Lovsan/Blaster worm (  I-Worm via RPC/RPCSS @ TCP port 135 ) etc, they were distributed for the effect, damage and bragging rights.  Today's malware is more sophisticated in that it is "all about the money".  Malicious actors use malware to profit from.  Either by stealing, distribution affiliation revenue, data exfiltration, personal identification impersonation, etc.  To effect that the malicious actors don't want the victim to know that their system was compromised or they are so blatant about it by generating advertisements,  Yesterday's malware was simple and less obtrusive.  Today's malware is very intrusive and makes numerous modifications to the Operating System.  Those numerous modifications to the Operating System is where the traditional anti virus application does poorly and where MBAM specializes.
 
MBAM is not a historical anti malware solution.  That means it will not target old malware.  It's intent is to target 0-Day malware.  Malware that is infecting computers Today with malware found in-the-wild, Today.  That means that something like the BugBear which infected years ago will not be targeted by MBAM.  Malwarebytes will actually cull their signature database for malware that is no longer seen in-the-wild Today.   This is why Malwarebytes requests samples that are submitted for detection consideration be no older than 3 months old.

 

Edited June 28, 2018 by David H. Lipman

[MarcK]

Thanks Dave for that very complete explanation, but I'm not sure you answered the original question, do I need an antivirus with Malwarebytes? 

At least I wasn't sure. To me in the beginning of your explanation it sounds like I should use antivirus software along side Malwarebytes,, but towards the end of you explanation I got the impression I don't.

Could you please clarify for me?

Thanks,

Marc

[David H. Lipman]

It depends on your desire to be warned and other factors.

For example.  One may download a MP3 that is a Wimad trojan.  A traditional anti virus application will detect that as a malicious file being a a Wimad trojan.  That would give one a Red Flag on the source of the MP3 as well as the file itself.  MBAM's anti exploitation module will only act to prevent the the software that renders the MP3 to act maliciously on the trojan's behalf.

 

[Porthos]

13 minutes ago, MarcK said:

Could you please clarify for me?

Just a question, What Windows are you using?

[MarcK]

I'm using Windows 10, along with Norton Antivirus and Malwarebytes.

So if I understand you correctly, the antivirus program will alert me to the virus, and eliminate it, but Malwarebytes will prevent the virus from acting maliciously?

A separate question would be, do you think Windows Defender would be an acceptable antivirus software to use along with Malwarebytes?

Thanks again!

Marc

[Porthos]

25 minutes ago, MarcK said:

A separate question would be, do you think Windows Defender would be an acceptable antivirus software to use along with Malwarebytes?

I truly believe it is.

[MarcK]

Thanks all for that information.

As it stands now, and assuming I am interpreting everything Dave has said correctly, I really don't need an antivirus program, as long as I am using a good antimalware program, such as Malwarebytes. I don't care about being warned of viruses, trojans etc, so much as I want to be sure any virus, trojan etc is prevented from acting maliciously, which Malwarebytes does.

And even if the additional protection from an antivirus program is considered desirable, Windows Defender should accomplish that task adequately.

Thanks again!

Marc

 

[Porthos]

2 hours ago, MarcK said:

Windows Defender should accomplish that task adequately.

Windows Defender is a good complement to Malwarebytes and since it is built into Windows 10 it is a no brainier to use them together.

[MarcK]

One last question.

I've uninstalled Norton AV, and turned on Windows Defender. The only issue I see is, I can't turn on "Real-time protection" under "Virus & threat protection settings" (in Windows Defender), because I am using another antivirus provider, i.e. MalwareBytes.

It seems obvious, I don't need "Real-time protection" by Windows Defender turned on, since I'm using it along side MalwareBytes, but I thought I'd check anyways, just in case there might be a way of turning it on, and adding another layer of protection.

Thanks!

Marc

 

 

[exile360]

You actually can turn it on to get Defender as an additional layer of real-time protection and it shouldn't conflict with Malwarebytes (we have many customers running the software in this very combination).  To do so, simply open Malwarebytes and click the small gear icon located in the upper right area of the main Malwarebytes UI, then select the Security tab, then scroll down until you find the Windows Security Center and disable the option just beneath it so that Malwarebytes does not register with the Windows Security Center/Action Center, then restart your system and Windows Defender should now be enabled alongside Malwarebytes.  The only difference is that Windows Security Center/Defender will no longer display Malwarebytes as your active AV protection even though both programs are fully active.  Malwarebytes will of course continue to monitor itself so if it is ever too out of date, any protection component is disabled or there is any other issue with the software, Malwarebytes itself will still notify you about it.

[MarcK]

That worked!

Great!

Thank you,

Marc

 

 

[exile360]

Excellent, I'm glad we were able to help

Please let us know if there is anything else we can help you with.

Thanks