Is "Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware safe?

Question

Is Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware a safe program to use and run? I am afraid of it possibly being the opposite of what it claims to be.

Answer 1

Yes, as long as you download it from a trusted source.

A quick look on CNET shows that it has a good number of positive reviews, and this specific download has already been tested.

Answer 2

Official source, which I believe to be safe: Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (www.malwarebytes.org)

This is my favorite program above Ad-Aware and Spybot S&D. Recently it has done a much better job at removing malware in my opinion.

If you are looking for an anti-virus program then I would suggest Avast. I used to use FreeAVG but it had trouble detecting a virus that I managed to get whereas Avast found it.

Edit: As of late, I don't suggest FreeAVG or Avast anymore.

Answer 3

I've used it on several occasions to get rid of malware, and it has not let me down. Just yesterday, in fact, we found several trojans on a user's computer, and malwarebytes cleaned it up without an issue.

Answer 4

Maybe. If you take a look at their web site, it sports a CNet editor's choice badge (dated this April) which links through to a download/review page on CNet's own site. At first glance, the name might sound a bit suspect, but it seems okay if you read a wee bit.

On the other hand, there's no guarantee that any software is safe to download and run; not just from the perspective of embedded malware/viruses, but also from their side effects. Anti-malware products by their nature tend to remove unwanted files and other artefacts from a system, but this process may very well leave a mess behind; it's reminiscent, I think, of old uninstallers in the bad old days when your shared libraries would end up in a frustratingly funky state.

The only sure-fire way to convince yourself that a piece of software is safe is to conduct a full code review and tests, or more practically (and in many cases, your only option) run it in a virtual machine, and see if that breaks.

Answer 5

This is one of the newer breed of anti-malware proggies.

I find it superior to the 'older' breed like AVG, Spybot and Adaware. The older ones have become bloated and slow.

Malwarebytes is quite good at what it does. After running it I tested with AVG and Spybot to see if they found something that MWB missed but they came up clean.

I'm very satisfied with this prog.

Answer 6

Just don't download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from CNET since CNET does add and install malware and crapware (even if you explicitly do not want it).

http://www.reddit.com/r/geek/comments/16971n/friendly_warning_downloadcom_adware_f_you_cnet/

As to the program itself, the only definite answer is probably to look at the code directly.