Malware Remediation Comparison – Malwarebytes vs. Hitman Pro

Often, when I am dealing with a malware-infected computer, I find that the malware has compromised the currently installed anti-malware product, and simply scanning the computer with the installed software does not work.  When that happens, my go-to choice for malware remediation has been to download and install a copy of Malwarebytes, and run scans until the Malwarebytes reports the system is clean.

In the course of research for another article, I stumbled across a comparable tool from Sophos called Hitman Pro.  If you are a long time reader, you may have figured out that I am a big fan of Sophos and their Naked Security blog.  They were one of the first companies to develop effective software (Intercept X) to combat crypto-ransomware infections and prevent them from damaging stored data.  So I decided to give Hitman Pro a try.

I ran both Malwarebytes and Hitman Pro on an average system in a training lab.  The system was not actively infected, but Hitman Pro took 5 minutes and 41 seconds to complete the scan, and found 383 tracking cookies.  Malwarebytes ran the same scan in 4 minutes and 51 seconds, and did not report the tracking cookies.

Malwarebytes needs to be installed locally to run a scan.  It uses both malware definitions and heuristics (behavior) to detect and isolate threats.  Malwarebytes has a free version, and a premium version that costs $39.99 for a single device and $59.99 for up to 3 devices.

Hitman Pro can be installed locally or run from a portable USB.  There is a 30-day free trial period, but after that it will cost you 24.95 for Hitman Pro, or $34.95 for Hitman pro Alert.  Both provide advance malware and PUA/PUP (potentially unwanted applications or potentially unwanted programs) removal, and the more expensive Alert product also covers real-time protection, ransomware protection, advanced exploit protection, and privacy features.

I am looking forward to trying Hitman against an actively infected system, to see how it compares.  But it appears to be comparable to Malwarebytes, and is worth adding to your toolbox.

 

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About the Author:

I am a cybersecurity and IT instructor, cybersecurity analyst, pen-tester, trainer, and speaker. I am an owner of the WyzCo Group Inc. In addition to consulting on security products and services, I also conduct security audits, compliance audits, vulnerability assessments and penetration tests. I also teach Cybersecurity Awareness Training classes. I work as an information technology and cybersecurity instructor for several training and certification organizations. I have worked in corporate, military, government, and workforce development training environments I am a frequent speaker at professional conferences such as the Minnesota Bloggers Conference, Secure360 Security Conference in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, the (ISC)2 World Congress 2016, and the ISSA International Conference 2017, and many local community organizations, including Chambers of Commerce, SCORE, and several school districts. I have been blogging on cybersecurity since 2006 at http://wyzguyscybersecurity.com

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