Malwarebytes Premium via Natwest has ended. What is another alternative ??

adindas

I just notice my Malwarebytes Premimum which come via Natwest has ended and I keep getting message to renew. I visited NatWest Website and I got this massage
https://www.natwest.com/fraud-and-security/malwarebytes.html

"From the 31st of May 2024, the Malwarebytes Premium anti-virus software offer will no longer be offered to Online Banking customers.

Malwarebytes Premium was an exclusive offer for customers who use Online Banking, designed to block malware on a variety of desktop and mobile devices.

The software offer had been in place for the past five years for our customers."

Is there any other to get Free Malwarebytes Premium or another comparable alternative ?

What about installing free AVAST in addition to windows defender, free version of Malwarebyte and run it manually ? In the past I have done that. The only annoying thing with AVAST is you keep getting annoying message or threatening message regarding your security risk and ask you to upgrade it to the paid version. But I am ok with that and will not get threatened.

Thanks

flaneurs_lobster

Not aware of any free Premium offers, the NatWest discounted price is £4.50/yr for 1 device, £6 for 2 etc.

The free version only seems to differ (can someone please corroborate) in that it does not run scheduled scans, it has to be poked.

Mark_d

If you're looking for protection for a Windows PC then there's always Microsoft's Defender.  On my PC I don't use antivirus as I believe other security measures provide ample protection.  On my Android mobile I use Sophos Intercept X.  That's free

adindas

Mark_d said:

If you're looking for protection for a Windows PC then there's always Microsoft's Defender.  On my PC I don't use antivirus as I believe other security measures provide ample protection.  On my Android mobile I use Sophos Intercept X.  That's free

Most the time I am accessing my bank account via desktop so yes I got Microsoft's Defender as a default. Regarding Sophos, if you are installing it do you need need to uninstall Malwarebyte first ?? Thanks

Mark_d

I would only have one piece of software managing your antivirus.  Otherwise the activity of one software might get treated as 'suspicious activity' by the other.  So yes I would uninstall Malwarebytes first.

Other security measures I would recommend are using a secure & filtered DNS provider such as NextDNS.  It's also worth reviewing your hardware and software firewall settings

flaneurs_lobster

adindas said:

 Regarding Sophos, if you are installing it do you need need to uninstall Malwarebyte first ?? Thanks

I'm running both (free MWB) on a Samsung on Android 14, they seem to be quite happy together.

Probably utter overkill/pointless but this is my "Banking Phone" with 3 dozen bank/BS/etc apps on it and I'll take all the (free) protection people want to give me.

adindas

Mark_d said:

I would only have one piece of software managing your antivirus.  Otherwise the activity of one software might get treated as 'suspicious activity' by the other.  So yes I would uninstall Malwarebytes first.

Other security measures I would recommend are using a secure & filtered DNS provider such as NextDNS.  It's also worth reviewing your hardware and software firewall settings

In the past, I have been running free Malware byte (before Free Premium NatWest was introduced) together with AVAST free version and windows defender, I have not encountered any conflict. Keep in mind, with Malwarebyte you will have to run it and scan it manually, while free avast are running 24/7 in the background. In my personal experience the only annoying thing with free AVAST is their continuous threatening message regarding your security risk and ask you to upgrade it to the paid version. But some people might be able to tolerate this. Also it seems Windows defender and AVAST work together so in this case Windows defender only provide the thing that free AVAST do not provided such as firewall (?)

brewerdave

I paid for the Premium service when the "free" NatWest supplied version ended. HOWEVER after installation, it's slowed down my PC to a crawl , was taking for ever to boot. Having to change quite a few default settings just to use my PC - wish I hadn't bother with paying the £4.50 !!

flaneurs_lobster

brewerdave said:

I paid for the Premium service when the "free" NatWest supplied version ended. HOWEVER after installation, it's slowed down my PC to a crawl , was taking for ever to boot. Having to change quite a few default settings just to use my PC - wish I hadn't bother with paying the £4.50 !!

Not my experience, it is after all the same software just a different licence agreement. Why did you have to reinstall it?

How are you determining that it's MWB that's knackering your machine?

brewerdave

flaneurs_lobster said:

brewerdave said:

I paid for the Premium service when the "free" NatWest supplied version ended. HOWEVER after installation, it's slowed down my PC to a crawl , was taking for ever to boot. Having to change quite a few default settings just to use my PC - wish I hadn't bother with paying the £4.50 !!

Not my experience, it is after all the same software just a different licence agreement. Why did you have to reinstall it?

How are you determining that it's MWB that's knackering your machine?

When I paid the money , I installed the updated Malwarebytes s/ware as instructed. It definitely was the issue as I found the default settings were allowing the programme to run at start up and take priority on resources. Task Manager showed that MWB was the issue.
 I wonder if my problem is that my PC is getting on a bit (~ 10 years old) and I'm running Win 10.
 I've had to set it up to run late in the day AND not to run if any occasion gets missed (ie the PC is off). 

flaneurs_lobster

brewerdave said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

brewerdave said:

I paid for the Premium service when the "free" NatWest supplied version ended. HOWEVER after installation, it's slowed down my PC to a crawl , was taking for ever to boot. Having to change quite a few default settings just to use my PC - wish I hadn't bother with paying the £4.50 !!

Not my experience, it is after all the same software just a different licence agreement. Why did you have to reinstall it?

How are you determining that it's MWB that's knackering your machine?

When I paid the money , I installed the updated Malwarebytes s/ware as instructed. It definitely was the issue as I found the default settings were allowing the programme to run at start up and take priority on resources. Task Manager showed that MWB was the issue.
 I wonder if my problem is that my PC is getting on a bit (~ 10 years old) and I'm running Win 10.
 I've had to set it up to run late in the day AND not to run if any occasion gets missed (ie the PC is off). 

Suspect your assumptions are correct.

TBH, the major difference between the paid-for and free versions of MWB is the ability to schedule scans and auto-updates of their local malware database.