The Kaspersky 07-Oct-2019 blog entry What Happened to Kaspersky Free Antivirus? notes that Kaspersky Antivirus Free has been replaced by a newer product called Kaspersky Security Cloud Free.
Neil Rubenking's 14-Aug-2019 PC Magazine review Kaspersky Security Cloud Free also notes that Kaspersky Security Cloud Free includes basic VPN (the free version limits users to 200 MB per day and won't let you select a VPN server) as well as their heuristic (behaviour-based)System Watch feature. The only real weakness I could see in that review (considering it's a free product) was that Kaspersky Security Cloud Free's built-in web protection scored slightly lower than many other antivirus programs when Neil ran his own malicious URL blocking test.
"... Even this free version comes with the same feature-limited Kaspersky Secure Connection VPN that Kaspersky distributes with the paid suite and antivirus products...
... My malicious URL blocking test, on the other hand, uses the latest URLs discovered by MRG-Effitas, typically just a few days old... Kaspersky blocked all access to 84 percent of the URLs. It blocked another 5 percent at download time, for a total of 89 percent detection. I did not attempt to execute the files, as this test specifically measures features that prevent download of malware to your PC...That score of 89 percent is decent, but 11 recent products have done better....
Does anyone have personal experience with the new Kaspersky Security Cloud Free? I'm always skeptical about free antivirus programs but the trial version of my factory-installed McAfee LiveSafe will be ending soon, and I wonder if Kaspersky Security Cloud Free might be a viable replacement for Windows Defender when paired with the real-time protection of my Malwarebytes Premium subscription.
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Win 10 Pro v1903 build 18362.356 * Firefox ESR v68.1.0 * McAfee LiveSafe v16.0 (R21) * MB Premium v3.8.3-1.0.627
Dell Inspiron 5584, Intel i5-8265U@1.60/1.80 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Intel UHD Graphics 620
Yes, I seen them posting on the MB forums about that. I've given up on KSCF for now but I may revisit in time. My concern is, what happens when KSCF updates again?
Just an FYI that the release notes for the new Malwarebytes BETA v4.1.0.56 with Component Package v1.0.853 (released for testing 13-Mar-2020) states in part:
• Addressed: Certain Ransomware protection incompatibilities with Kaspersky, iTunes and Photoshop
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v1909 build 18363.657 * Windows Defender v4.18.2001.10 * Malwarebytes Free v3.8.3-1.0.629
Sorry, spoke too soon. This was just posted by Malwarebytes employee LiquidTension in James246's thread Kaspersky Antivirus 2020 Alert:
" We're aware of an issue between the latest patch update to Kaspersky products (patch e) and Ransomware Protection in Malwarebytes, causing certain applications to hang when both are running together. We're currently investigating this issue in an effort to determine if there is something we can do on our side to address the issue....".
The email notification I received only mentioned Kaspersky Security Cloud (v20.0.14.1085 patch e) but LiquidTension's post was edited and now states "Kaspersky products (patch e)".
Possible mitigations for a temporary workaround are included in that reply.
....Ransomware Protection disabled in MB allows both to run together, at least for now anyway.
Hi Krusty13:
Maurice Naggar posted in James246's thread Kaspersky Antivirus 2020 Alertthat he suspects that this conflict might have something to do Kaspersky's System Watcher feature. His Kaspersky Total Security 2020 + MB Premium v4.0.4 combination doesn't seem to be affected by this bug, but the Kaspersky blog entry Kaspersky Security Cloud — Free, Your Guardian Angel in the Digital World confirms that System Watcher is included in the free KSCF:
"System Watcher performs behavioral analysis and blocks even unknown threats based on their behavior. For example, if an application tries to encrypt too many files at the same time, it is likely ransomware and shouldn’t be permitted to do anything. System Watcher blocks such activity and rolls back changes made by malware. System Watcher used to be offered only as part of our premium solutions, but now it’s an integral component of Kaspersky Security Cloud Free."
I've been trialling KSCF on one of my Win10 machines and aside from a conflict with Malwarebytes it has been running fine. Firefox + some other pograms would not open but showed as running in Task manager.
A workaround was posted on the MB forums for the MB conflict. It was to disable Ransomware Protection in Malwarebytes...
Hi Krusty13:
Thanks for your feedback. My original interest in Kaspersky Security Cloud Free (KSCF) was piqued when I read James246's thread Kaspersky Antivirus 2020 Alert in the Malwarebytes forum where he asked about any potential conflicts between Kaspersky Antivirus Free and Malwarebytes Premium. I found your comments in the Wilders Security thread Kaspersky Security Cloud Freetoday and let James246 know that you and rainbow1112 had both observed a conflict with KSCF and the Ransomware Protection module in Malwarebytes Premium.
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Win 10 Pro v1903 build 18362.388 * Firefox ESR v68.2.0 * McAfee LiveSafe v16.0 (R21) * MB Premium v3.8.3-1.0.627
I've been trialling KSCF on one of my Win10 machines and aside from a conflict with Malwarebytes it has been running fine. Firefox + some other pograms would not open but showed as running in Task manager.
A workaround was posted on the MB forums for the MB conflict. It was to disable Ransomware Protection in Malwarebytes. this solved my issue. To be fair, KSCF does prompt to uninstall MB when you first install it, so potential conflicts may arise when either program update.
No other problems to report and the system seems more responsive than when running Windows Defender.