Malware Bytes MEE in conjunction with Trend Micro Worry Free Business

[TelAlaskaRon]

I am being asked by my superior in my office why I am installing Malwarebytes Anti-Malware alongside Trend Micros Worry Free Business software.  He states that Malwarebytes is both Antimalware and Anti-Virus.  I disagree.  Recently I see 9 ransomware attempts for one of our domain users in Trend Micro, however Malwarebytes detects other things on the same users account.  I believe they are not the same and one specializes in Malware and the other in Virus.

Thoughts ? 

[gonzo]

Malwarebytes approaches ransomware from several different angles at the same time.  If you are seeing anything detected by Malwarebytes (which it sounds like you are from your description), its because we are not labeling detections generically as ransomware.  That is the end result, but it relies on several different types of attacks to achieve its goal.  If you block the other attacks, you also block the result from occurring.

[TelAlaskaRon]

Thank you for your reply.   Is it "ok" to run both Malwarebytes and Trend Micro together?  My understanding is that Malware is not a Virus and a Virus is not a Malware.  I know MalwareBytes has an advertisement that mentions the word Antivirus, but I do not think MalwareBytes handles virus's only Malware, Ransomware, and some forms of Exploits.  Is this true?

Ron

 

[gonzo]

You can run them together, though you may need to set exclusions on each so that they do not interfere.  They may also get along just fine.  A virus is a type of malware, and is generally obsolete.  Modern attacks rarely use them anymore.  Instead they rely on exploits and people letting their guard down and not protecting themselves properly.  Think of malware as the umbrella.  A virus fits under the umbrella, as does an exploit.

Anti-virus programs have always depended on signatures, which take more and more storage, and testing data against the signatures takes more and more of your computer's horsepower away from you.  Malwarebytes' newer technologies rely more on detection of exploits and providing protection against them.  There are an infinite number of things to protect against, but all of them need a way in to your computer for an attack to succeed.  You block the pathways, and you block the attack.  That is a strength of Malwarebytes.

[djacobson]

Trend Micro Worry-Free works together with Malwarebytes, but needs mutual exclusions because currently as of 2/4/19, there are performance issues to be aware of with these two together if no exclusions are set. Keep in mind though that this comes and goes in waves depending on Trend's signatures for a given time.

@jlans89, could you post your Worry-Free list you came up with?

[jlans89]

@TelAlaskaRon It'll probably best for me to open a case with you and assist you through remote session to make sure you are putting the exclusions correctly for both security software. Please look out for an email from me.