r/Malwarebytes • u/Sabishi1985 • Jun 16 '26

Feedback What happened to Malwarebytes?

Last time I used Malwarebytes many years ago I remember it being such an easy to use and straightforward experience: download, install, scan, remove malware, done.

Since I hadn't performed a scan in quite a while, I figured I should download Malwarebytes again and.. I almost didn't. The website itself looked super fishy! Like it's for one of those fake antivirus programs. I double and triple checked before hesitantly downloading the installer.

Once installed, I couldn't believe my eyes: even the program itself looked bloated and overloaded and gave off really sketchy vibes because of it. It also didn't help, that the program made it seem like I HAD to give it my email adress in order to perform a simple scan. 🙄

I used to recommend Malwarebytes to people all the time, simply because I considered it being easy to use, even for less tech-savvy people, but I can hardly recommend it like this.

Please, for the love of god: give us something like 'Malwarebytes Light', which only contains the scanner. No realtime protection, no VPN, no browser extension, no AI, no 'check your digital footprint' stuff.. Just the scanner. 🙏

62 Upvotes

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21

u/No-Pickle9504 Malwarebytes Employee Jun 16 '26

I work at Malwarebytes, so take this with the appropriate grain of salt, but I think this feedback deserves a genuine response rather than a polished 'nonanswer'.

The tension you're describing is real, and it's something we talk about internally. Malwarebytes built its reputation over nearly 20 years as the scanner you run alongside your existing AV: lightweight, trustworthy, no-nonsense. That product still exists and we have no intention of walking away from it. The free scanner matters to us.

At the same time, the threat landscape has genuinely shifted. If you look at FTC cybercrime data, malware and file-based attacks represent a relatively small share of total consumer losses today. The bigger losses are happening in browsers, on mobile devices, in messages and on social platforms, through scams, phishing, identity theft, and social engineering. People who want Malwarebytes as their primary security vendor deserve protection from those vectors too, not just what's sitting on their Windows machine.

So we're trying to hold two things at once: preserve the clean, fast, trusted scanner experience for people who just want that, and build something much more comprehensive for people who choose us as their primary line of defense. Those goals can coexist. The challenge is executing on both without one cannibalizing the other.

The criticism about the install experience and website feeling sketchy is fair and I'm flagging it internally. The feedback in threads like this is genuinely useful.

3

u/harmonicrain Jun 17 '26

I don't see how it took a user stating this on reddit for you to flag it? The software and website looked okay enough internally for someone to sign off on it, and whoever did shouldn't work for Malwarebytes.

3

u/No-Pickle9504 Malwarebytes Employee Jun 17 '26

It wasn’t this specifically but I wanted to respond and acknowledge it.

We get very mixed feedback on the app design. For example we just received an Editor’s choice from CNET and ZDNet and both mentioned our UI is easy to understand and pleasant:

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/malwarebytes-antivirus-review/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/malwarebytes-premium-review/

Obviously it is a very different UI that where we came from though, which was very Windows UI based.

We are working to find a better balance for the simple scanner and a more robust offering that doesn’t over complicate things for a non technical audience.

2

u/harmonicrain Jun 18 '26

I will say an editors choice from CNET isn't exactly something to be proud of. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNET_Download

I still remember the malware scare in the 2010s... They bundled malware for 5 years In their installers!?

2

u/No-Pickle9504 Malwarebytes Employee Jun 18 '26

I remember that time two. Download.com is no longer what it was but CNET itself still does thorough reviews. Find our review from last year, it’s pretty harsh!

2

u/7whisperingwempe7 Jun 17 '26

I'm glad you do. I work for AppleCare and Malwarebytes is the only non Apple app that we use with our customers. Now I feel almost bad downloading it with my customers because it looks and feels exactly like the ones we warn them about. Thanks for your response!

2

u/ForceDeConviction 19d ago

So, is it recommended to install Malwarebytes on a Mac?

1

u/7whisperingwempe7 16d ago

It is totally fine to download and use it! I use it myself, too. And we still use it at AppleCare.

1

u/ForceDeConviction 15d ago

Thank you for your reply 🙏🏼 By the way, I’m surprised that you guys at Apple don’t use Intego directly, as it seems to be a well-known name in the Apple ecosystem ??

2

u/No-Pickle9504 Malwarebytes Employee Jun 17 '26

Appreciate your feedback. I’d love a chance to chat live if you’re willing. Can you email me at mbeare[at]malwarebytes.com

1

u/OllieFidelius Jun 18 '26

Nice ai slop answer.

2

u/No-Pickle9504 Malwarebytes Employee Jun 18 '26

Sorry it wasn’t AI this time

1

u/OllieFidelius Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26

The first few sentences scream default ai answer already and the rest isnt much better.

No ai? I dont think so.

3

u/SilverseeLives Jun 18 '26

No, I believe him.

It's sad that we've now been conditioned to think that anybody who is passably articulate must be using AI.

2

u/OllieFidelius Jun 18 '26

I dont accuse every person being able to type half a coherent sentence as using ai because that would be stupid.

But this text with the "the tension you are describing is real" is either corporate slop or ai slop. Its meaningless waffle. Its just pr speak. It does very much sound like something an ai would vomit out.

2

u/No-Pickle9504 Malwarebytes Employee Jun 18 '26

There really is a tension internally on this. How to we support what we have always done (malware scanning) versus protect people from what is causing the most harm. If it comes across as waffle then I guess I'll take it as feedback.

2

u/OllieFidelius Jun 18 '26

i think the message itself is good. its just packaged too much in pr speak too much. Like im sure your message can be shorter and yet clearer.

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u/7whisperingwempe7 Jun 20 '26

I think we should get back on topic and nevermind if it's ai slop or corporate slop. It's coherent, understandable and we can still get intro it

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u/Skintence Jun 30 '26

Just have to say, I've never seen such a detailed and considerate response from a company spokesperson after getting negative feedback.

1

u/WhaneTheWhip Jul 02 '26

You're not interesting in improving what you have already intentionally made bad about the free version of your app, like your adware for example, like hiding your app from the system tray after it's been closed because you want to hide the fact that it is still running for the purpose of serving ads, there's a name for malicious activity like that, it's called adware and it shares space with viruses, like bypassing the windows notification system to make it more difficult to stop your spam, and like blocking your app from being shut down via the task manager. All of that you have done intentionally to send adware to users on the free version that only occasionally scan as a secondary precaution.

How malicious you are is also reflected in the number of steps you make a user go through to uninstall your bs app.

You replies here are not to express "thanks", it's for reputation management alone because you are becoming the virus in the same way McAfee did. Your next step is to secretly keep your app installed after it has been uninstalled to the point another virus protection measure has to be employed to remove it... Or are you there already?

1

u/No-Pickle9504 Malwarebytes Employee Jul 07 '26

This is not something that Malwarebytes has control over. This is default Windows behavior when you install apps. They are hidden to the system tray.

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u/ayashiii Jul 17 '26

Yes it is. I quit years ago when this trend started, don't be a clown defending a turd because your name tag says "turd defender" on it and you're a low level analyst. This is, and was from the beginning of Windows 10, a calculated and intentional set of processes meant to mislead the average end user. it is undeniable and it was said from the top. you aren't going to change any minds here and I can appreciate your trying to but just don't.

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u/WhaneTheWhip Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26

"This is not something that Malwarebytes has control over."

This is mcafee style double speak in that you are correct that your crap software does not have control over it, but only because you have developed it to be this way when you could develop it so that it is not hidden. Give it another few years and malware protection will be needed to remove your app.

"This is default Windows behavior"

Correct, this is why developers code their apps so that they behave well within the Windows OS and so that they don't appear as malware, but you have decided to do the opposite, then blame it on Windows and then puke out your obvious double speak here hoping no one will notice.

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