Opinon on herdProtect

[Galdorf]

I just heard about herdProtect and decided to test it seems quite fast and thorough has anyone else tried it?.
It has an installer and portable version it uses multiple av engines

Engines that Power herdProtect

Agnitum
AhnLab V3
Antiy Labs Antiy-AVL
Aladdin eSafe
Avast! Antivirus (ALWIL)
AVG AntiVirus
Avira AntiVir
Baidu Antivirus
BitDefender
Boost (Resason Software)
BullGuard
ByteHero
Quick Heal (Cat Computer Services)
Command Antivirus (Commtouch)
ClamAV (ClamAV)
Comodo
DrWeb (Doctor Web, Ltd.)
Emsisoft (Emsi Software)
ESET NOD32 (Eset Software)
ESTsoft ALYac
Fortinet
F-Pro (FRISK Software)
F-Secure
GData (G DATA Software)
The Hacker (Hacksoft)
herdProtect [Fuzzy]
IKARUS anti.virus
nProtect (INCA Internet)
Jiangmin
K7 Antivirus (K7 Computing)
K7 Gateway Antivirus (K7 Computing)
Kaspersky
Kaspersky Endpoint (Security 10 for Windows)
Lavasoft Ad-aware
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
McAfee VirusScan
Microsoft Forefront
Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Windows Defender
mSecure Antivirus
Nano Antivirus
Norman Antivirus
Optenet
Panda Platinum (Panda Security)
Preventon (Security Software)
Qihoo 360 Internet Security (Qihoo)
Roboscan
Rising Antivirus
Sophos SAV
SUPERAntiSpyware
System Shield (iolo)
Tencent Antivirus
TotalDefense
Trend Micro
Trend Micro HouseCall
TrustPort
Twister Antivirus (Filseclab)
Vexx Guard AntiVirus
ViRobot (Hauri)
VirusBlokAda VBA32
VIPRE Antivirus (ThreatTrack Securit/Sunbelt/GFI)
VIRUSfighter Plus (SPAMfighter)
ZoneAlarm
Zoner AntiVirus (Check Point)
Zeobit

I find i always have do multiple scans anyways why not use 1 program to do all that.
I always follow up with manual inspection and cleanup just in case.

 

[MotzTech]

The very first thing that comes to mind is how the heck is this legal??

 

[Xander]

It's not an AV; it's more like VirusTotal.

 

[Galdorf]

I do have to admit it is the fastest multiAV-cloud scanner i have ever tested it seems to find alot of stuff that single av scanners miss it can even remove browser plugins and it searches for hooks as well.
It has a list where you can check/uncheck for removal nice feature.

 

[Galdorf]

It's not an AV; it's more like VirusTotal.

Yes it does not have any form of protection but it does scan entire system like running multiple av scans at once and it can remove browser plugins virus total can't do that.
It does work like virus total with extra abilities it also looks for hooks which virus total does not do either.

 

[Xander]

Ahh, so it's not just a single-file on-demand scanner but it CAN be used to scan a whole system with browser plugin scan as well?

 

[atlanticjim]

From their front page
this will be interesting to watch.
I wonder what the final pricing will be.

Release Timeline
Scanner
Scan your PC for malware with all 68-engines in the cloud.
(Release completed)
↓
Scan and Remove
Scan and remove malware from your PC based on detections from all 68-engines.
(Available today in beta)
↓
Protection Platform
Scan and remove malware with real-time protection.
(Q3 2014)

 

[Galdorf]

Ahh, so it's not just a single-file on-demand scanner but it CAN be used to scan a whole system with browser plugin scan as well?

Yes it also shows a list of what it found where and how many as well as check boxes for removal as well browser addons are at the end of list but by default if it does not know if it is malicious it keeps them unchecked.

After running malwarebytes, Roguekiller,adwcleaner,jrt and npe after running herdProtect it found a whole bunch of stuff that looked like droppers for trojans that hijack browsers and inject ads.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I'll say the same thing I said last year when that name came up here on the boards...
http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53845&highlight=herdprotect

"Concerns? Yes.
*Brand new product no history it's free so "what's the catch?"
*Reason Softwares other products are a bit.....questionable...snake oil crap.
How many of you experienced techs trust software that promises to boost your systems performance? They have that "Boost" thing mentioned above....
http://builtwithreason.com/

How are the license fees he surely should pay to the other 67 AV vendors covered in this "free" project?

I wonder how clean your system still is, from adware bars, after using this software? Maybe clean now so he can pass the tests of curious minds with a brand new product, but once the product gets momentum, I'm sure future versions will be installing stuff like conduit bar or other affiliate sales driving junk."

 

[Galdorf]

I'll say the same thing I said last year when that name came up here on the boards...
http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53845&highlight=herdprotect

"Concerns? Yes.
*Brand new product no history it's free so "what's the catch?"
*Reason Softwares other products are a bit.....questionable...snake oil crap.
How many of you experienced techs trust software that promises to boost your systems performance? They have that "Boost" thing mentioned above....
http://builtwithreason.com/

How are the license fees he surely should pay to the other 67 AV vendors covered in this "free" project?

I wonder how clean your system still is, from adware bars, after using this software? Maybe clean now so he can pass the tests of curious minds with a brand new product, but once the product gets momentum, I'm sure future versions will be installing stuff like conduit bar or other affiliate sales driving junk."

I have done 10 tests using heavily infected VM images started with herdProtect , then ran kaspersky,bitdefender,malwarebytes,spybot,roguekiller,adwcleaner none found anything to clean snakeoil means software only pretends to clean my tests show it does clean and does a good job.
I don't think it will be free though it is still in beta i think once it goes live the price will be posted ,CCleaner promises to boost system performance.
"CCleaner is the number-one tool for cleaning your Windows PC. It protects your privacy online and makes your computer faster and more secure. Easy to use and a small, fast download."

 

[numnutz]

probably a false positive but the exe installer comes up as a Trojan on a hitman pro scan.

 

[PcTek9]

I tried it.

I tried it on Galdorf's recommendation. I like it. But oddly herd protect detected it's on installer as a trojan. Weird... But other than that it works great. Sort of similiar thing as happened to you. But only on one pc. The other 3 it went fine. Very weird.

 

[MikeLierman]

The very first thing that comes to mind is how the heck is this legal??

Downloading right now in case it gets pulled

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

probably a false positive but the exe installer comes up as a Trojan on a hitman pro scan.

Might be related to the company behind Herd Protect, "Built with Reason"...they have this "PC Boost" program....one of those "speed up your computer" things.
http://www.boostbyreason.com/features.aspx

 

[PcTek9]

I've decided I like this product a lot.

 

[cypress]

I'll download it and give it a shot. Might be something to use besides the GE Geek Tool Kit.