Windows 10: Why does Webroot SecureAnywhere get a bad rep?

I've watched a few video reviews of security software on YouTube, and Webroot SecureAnywhere seems to do relatively poorly: not the worst, but relatively mediocre overall.

I decided to trial it for myself, and so was not expecting much. But I'm actually fairly impressed. It is very light-weight on system resources, the interface is fairly attractive and functional in my opinion, and it offers quite a lot of features. On install, it offered to randomize its install directory and executable file name, which may not be unique, but I thought was a cool idea to evade malware that attempts to attack security software... There is also a "white list only" option in heuristics, its own firewall with outbound restriction options, a control panel for active processes, and Webroot Infrared which is supposed to provide advanced detection of zero-day malware.

Of course that's all well and good, but what about its actual detection performance against actual live malware "in the wild". That's one area in which it seemed to fall down in the YouTube reviews I watched... I'm not a malware professional nor even an IT professional, but I did do my own detection test with Webroot SecureAnywhere on a 765 file malware pack. The detection rate was 97%, which is right up there with several of my other favorite security products: ESET NOD32 and Emsisoft Anti-Malware. The results I saw online suggested the detection rate might be as low as in the 30% - 40% range, which is obviously pretty poor. I'm sure there is going to be variability in testing due to limited sample sizes relative to the vast amounts of malware out there. But that kind of difference begs the question if I'm looking at the same product [or maybe the reviews I saw did not have all detection options enabled?].

And from what I understand, SecureAnywhere can also function as a real-time companion Antivirus, much like Malwarebytes and Zemana, etc. That is, it seems to be compatible with most other AVs, and because it is so light-weight, will not noticeably impact system performance. So one could conceivably use SecureAnywhere to complement another AV product, which I think could be a very strong defense indeed.

The only "flaky" behavior I've noticed during my brief trial to date, is that one time I wanted to delete all of the files in quarantine because it had over 700 items due to the test I performed with the 765 sample malware pack. Well, there is an option to select all items, and then another button to delete. I tried this several times, and it appeared the files were being deleted, but seconds later they would reappear in quarantine. I had to exit the quarantine, then come back,and then I was finally able to really delete all items. Strange.

Anyway, I'm not trying to do an advertisement for Webroot, but rather solicit any other opinions on the software, positive or negative. Very curious as to why my experience seems very positive overall, but reviews I've seen are fairly negative.

Thanks!

:)

 

My Computer monitor

After renewing Webroot SecureAnywhere IS, I have no monitor to come out of sleep. Must turn computer off and reboot to get monitor . why ?

 

Stopcode: Driver IRQL not less or equal; related to kbdclass.sys

You should be able to fix the issue by running the CompatibilityFlag.reg available from Webroot - there is a link in the following post in the Webroot forum with instructions on applying the registry patch:
Solved: Re: webroot seems to be causing kbdclass.sys bsod in win10 with ms keyboard - Webroot Community

Also, consider contacting Webroot on the issue as there may be a fix in a future SecureAnywhere update.

Were you able to get Windows started?

 

I've only had good experience with Webroot for the past few years. I haven't watched any YouTube videos dissing the product, but YouTube isn't a consistent source of quality information. Any reviews I have read of Webroot have uniformly placed it high on the list of very effective AV solutions. Its malware detection works great. I also use Malwarebytes Pro, and I believe I have adequate protection using both products.

 

Hopefully, TairkuOkami will see this thread. He has good info on AVs.

 

You need to tag him, so he'll come here. *Wink @TairikuOkami

 

You have done pretty well. Yes, Webroot scores around 97% in test from 2015-2017.

MRG Comissioned tests - the latest test is from December 2016 performed on Windows 10 x64.

But there is more to AV than just detection and Webroot is doing there pretty well too, just like Kaspersky.

MRG Award 2015/2016

Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus Review & Rating | PCMag.com

On the dark side though. *Zip

 

I buy mine from eBay - last one was a three-year license for $50. Webroot doesn't have my credit card info.