CyberGhost VPN has an antivirus option for an extra £1/month but they only sell it to their VPN subscribers.
I wouldn’t trust an antivirus from a VPN owned by Kape Technologies (whose name should ring alarm bells for anyone in the privacy community)
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SurfShark has a similar product, they only sell it to their VPN customers:
And this is a product from a VPN owned by Nord, who has a fun record with security on their own servers…
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Malwarebytes? This one is free for everybody.
This site generally tries to recommend free and open source software.
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I’ve been using Malwarebytes for several years now. I’ve used other antivirus software programs in the past, such as: Kaspersky, Bitdefender, Norton, McAfee, Panda Security, AVG and Avast.
Malwarebytes is the most tolerable so far, and I’m glad I use it. Though, after reading through multiple internet forums and Subreddits, it seems like having one isn’t essential anymore.
I’ve seen some say Malwarebytes is like an “extension” to Windows Defender, meaning it isn’t necessary to have unless you can’t seem to live without a third-party antivirus software for whatever reason.
I’ve learned that 99.99% of viruses are caused by ourselves–clicking on funny links. Correct me if I’m wrong, please.
My renewal is coming up pretty soon. Can the community of Privacy Guides advise me if I should continue using their service?
I would go as far as to say that 3rd party AVs cause more harm than good.
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Even with Malwarebytes?
Yes, this applies to all 3rd party AVs.
Just use Windows Defender and your 
Almost all 3rd party AVs are malware themselves.
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From my experience, Malwarebytes is still very well-regarded in the general security community. Not so much as a constant background scan (Windows Defender is more than enough for that) but as an occasional spot check with the free version if you think something is wrong, and especially as a way to clean up a less tech-savvy friend or family member’s PC to catch stuff Defender may have missed if they’re in a bad spot (short of reinstalling the operating system if you wish to be 100% sure). On VirusTotal, I often find that Defender may flag something that Malwarebytes doesn’t and vice versa, so they appear to complement each other well. As such, you probably don’t need to pay to have Malwarebytes constantly scanning, but I definitely wouldn’t lump it in with every other scammy Windows antivirus.
I would recommend adding a good content blocker to your browser such as uBlock Origin. This should block most of the adware content that could try to sneak in, since bad websites and downloads are the biggest way that malware usually lands on your system.
Pair that with general common sense (such as to avoid clicking on random links and ESPECIALLY random downloads) and keeping Windows Defender up to date, and you should have a pretty safe system.
Hi, thanks for your reply. I already use uBlock Origin on my installed browsers. I’ve actually used that ad blocker for over ten years now. I haven’t needed to make a switch ever since!
@Lukas @Valynor Thank you for your insight. I have removed Malwarebytes from my system and cancelled my subscription.
@BionicBison I haven’t had any problems with Malwarebytes thus far, but if Windows Defender is good enough without it, I don’t see a reason to spend extra money for a third party software. Your extra insight with VirusTotal + Malwarebytes is informational, thank you.
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Duplicate Privacy/security considerations for anti-virus on Windows 11 for non-technical users?
Also relevant: Google Play Protect feature on Android - #8 by ph00lt0
This thing has been discussed now dozens of times…
Pwrhaps it is sensible to add a recommendation on the website to which we can refer given this keeps popping up from time to time. The recommendation being do not install third party AVs
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Hypatia and ClamAV. I think that F-Secure, Bitwarden (Free for Android) and Malwarebytes have some good privacy policies. There’s an app on Play Store that offer app scanning with Virus total (just search Virustotal on Play Store) and you can scan files selecting files. Virus total analyzes with 50+ antivirus, although some are not focused on x threat, and some use other engines already used by others, etc.
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If the mission statement of this place is to provide information, then I think it would be good idea to include security apps like these in the recommendations.
Even if you ultimately end up recommending people not do something does not mean it is not a recommendation. It also does not mean it is not helpful for people to know why it is the case, and to let people make their own decisions. Everything we do is about trade-offs — what we are willing to give up in order to gain something else — and this is different for every person.
In any case, thanks for all the discourse I have followed here for a while without making an account.
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You should read the T&C of these products you’ll find they collect a lot of data to “protect the user”, just like McAfee which has some rather dubious and broad language in it. There’s no surprise that these large VPN companies are entering virus scanner space. Antivirus companies have been trying to enter the VPN space. The reality is you really don’t need either.
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