Verifying that an anti-malware app is working

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	LANGALIST PLUS Verifying that an anti-malware app is working
	By Fred Langa Is your anti-malware tool actually doing its job? There’s no need to guess; here’s how to find out whether it’s working for you. Plus: How to recover data from a cloned drive, and what to do when your word processor refuses to print anything.

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[INDENT][/INDENT]But the most important factor is objective: Is the tool keeping you safe?”

As I’m sure you know, most infections nowadays are due to people doing something that bypasses their anti-virus, and in so doing, they infect their own machines. This isn’t the fault of the anti-malware tool, but the fault of the lack of an anti-malware tool between the ears.

Your idea of using scanners from different vendors is the right approach, but just because something is found, doesn’t mean the existing anti-malware is not doing its job.

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[INDENT][/INDENT]But the most important factor is objective: Is the tool keeping you safe?”

As I’m sure you know, most infections nowadays are due to people doing something that bypasses their anti-virus, and in so doing, they infect their own machines. This isn’t the fault of the anti-malware tool, but the fault of the lack of an anti-malware tool between the ears.

Your idea of using scanners from different vendors is the right approach, but just because something is found, doesn’t mean the existing anti-malware is not doing its job.

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Also, just because nothing is found with different scanners doesn’t mean your AV is doing its job if you have good browsing habits. Another thing to consider is that no one AV product will catch everything.

Jerry

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Also, just because nothing is found with different scanners doesn’t mean your AV is doing its job if you have good browsing habits. Another thing to consider is that no one AV product will catch everything.

Jerry

Yet it is advisable to NOT use more than one AV at a time. Must be another conspiracy!

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You can use Malwarebytes in conjunction with most if not all other AV apps for very effective protection. Just do a weekly Malwarebytes scan. The pro version allows you to schedule scans.

Jerry

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Apps such as MBAM Pro & SuperAntiSpyware Pro (both are also available as free) plays well with most AV/IS suites. F-Secure IS is one exception to the rule.

All are looking for different types of infections. SAS is excellent for purging the system of tracking/ad cookies that many will state is begien (harmless), however anything that tracks usage is & should be considered a threat. These type of cookies builds up, the user gets more ads & performance eventually suffers. SAS also catches some trojans.

MBAM is among the best malware defenses on the market & is used by both technicians/home users. I have mine set to update hourly & a flash scan is ran, plus a short scan is ran daily w/o me having to do anything. Similar with SAS, only I also run a short scan before & after making transactions & before shutting down at the end of day. On a SSD attached to a SATA III port, this scan takes only 28-35 seconds. MBAM’s short scan takes about 65-70 seconds.

Along with smart computing habits, which has been pointed out, MBAM/SAS are great tools to use & both keeps logs. Both also kicks in in realtime to block/quarantine threats.

As far as verifying they’re working, just open the Task Manager & view Processes & Services. Processes will show how much memory is being used, an indicator that it’s working. These will also be listed as a Service.

Cat

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Just tried Fred’s suggestion for malware scanners at Trend Micro’s free HouseCall. It won’t allow EULAlyzer to read it’s EULA. So not going there.

Then tried his suggestion at ESAT. Got message “You are trying to launch ESET Online Scanner in a different browser than Internet Explorer.” I was using IE11 latest version.

Just saying.

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