Positives
- Powerful malware scanner
- Automatic scan scheduling
- Rollback feature
- User-friendly and lightweight software
- 60-day risk-free testing
Negatives
- No third-party testing
- Expensive
- Windows-only compatibility
No matter how advanced cybersecurity technology gets, hackers will always try to find a way to break through. So, naturally, antimalware services are still as essential as ever. Created in 2013 and based in Australia, Defencebyte is a cybersecurity company that focuses on registry cleaning and data security, as well as ensuring a safe browsing experience free from any attacks. Instead of selling all these elements in one complete package with features that different users may not need, the company provides personalized products with specific purposes. This is where Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware comes in: a tool designed to keep all types of malware at bay. This easy-to-use and lightweight software has a powerful scanner capable of detecting and removing viruses, worms, trojans, and, of course, ransomware. As well as the automatic scanning option and history cleaner, the service provides an underrated rollback feature, which many other services don’t offer. Although Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware’s prices can seem a bit high at first, customers can try the software for 60 days for free.
Best Antivirus Software of 2023
| Rank | Company | Info | Visit |
1 |   |
| |
2 |   |
| |
3 |  |
|
Features
Once you’ve downloaded the software, you’ll immediately notice its ease of use. Setting up Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware and running the first scan is as simple as it gets, needing only a few clicks. Similarly, it has an incredibly user-friendly interface, where all features are conveniently laid out, avoiding piled-up information and thus leaving no room for confusion. However, the other side of the coin is that this appealing simplicity also means the software provides fewer features than its competitors. There’s no included VPN, firewall, password manager, or parental control, and its protection is only extended to browsers.
Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware Dashboard
Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware Settings
Nevertheless, Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware focuses on the essential feature any antimalware needs: its scanner. Truthfully, this software can detect anything malicious that you may have lurking in your computer and instantly delete it or move it into quarantine. Along with preventing all forms of malware, the service specializes in repelling ransomware – which is a type of malware that holds onto the user’s information in return for a ransom (usually money or cryptocurrency) – with a handy rollback feature that lets you recover previously encrypted files.
Antimalware Protection
Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware likes to keep things simple. The three scanning options are immediately visible when you first open its software and are presented with its clean-looking interface. Here, users can pick either a quick, deep, or custom scan. Depending on how many files you have, the quick scan takes about 15 minutes, while the deep scan – scouring all files – takes about 50 minutes. Lastly, the custom scanning option lets users add specific folders to be searched and uses an extensions list to filter out files by type. As any antimalware service should, Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware offers a scheduling feature, which means all three scans can be scheduled to run automatically on a daily or weekly basis.
Scanning Specific Folders
Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware Scanner
Scheduling an Automatic Scan
Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware CPU Usage
Despite the different name, Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware’s scanner functionalities are like other antivirus services – it scans and cleans the system of any malware encountered. Still, the software puts a special emphasis on removing ransomware, providing a scanning engine with special characteristics capable of monitoring encryption and modification of registry keys. Even more impressive than terminating all malware-related activities is how the software lets you roll back to previous system settings upon finding ransomware, thus ensuring your files don’t stay encrypted.
Unfortunately, the product has not been tested by third-party labs – such as AV-Test, making it hard to judge it on a larger scale. But we were pleased with the results from our own tests, seeing how it scanned all malicious files put on the system, allowing us to completely erase them or place them into quarantine. There were also no system slowdowns or PC performance issues, even when doing a deep scan. Truth be told, the software is so lightweight that users can even have a gaming session while their computer gets thoroughly scanned.
Extended Protection
Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware’s intuitive dashboard presents users with two more features – active protection and threat definitions. While the latter is a must-have to keep the software automatically updated on the latest definitions of newly created malware, the former can be toggled on to block suspicious websites and incoming malicious files. Additional tools and settings can also be configured to further enhance the overall antimalware experience: the history cleaner does a great job scanning for surplus items that may not be needed and deleting those chosen by the user. These include browser cache, temporary files, or even Most Recently Used (MRU) lists that contain a registry of recently opened web pages and applications.
Deleting a file or uninstalling a program doesn’t necessarily mean this data will no longer exist on your computer. With this in mind, Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware provides a secure file eraser that can be activated to completely remove any traces left on your machine. As a result, not even special data recovery utilities will manage to rescue these items, so it’s important to be careful. Moreover, the software has a convenient startup manager that identifies applications that run during startup, letting users disable nonessential processes for a quicker boot time.
Cleaning Surplus Items
Improving Boot Time
Updating Threat Definitions
Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware Additional Options
Last but not least, there’s an option to enable advanced heuristics analysis. It’s surprising to see this feature concealed within the settings menu, considering how effective it can be. This is a great tool for detecting new viruses developed by cybercriminals. It spots suspicious properties by examining the virus code instead of just comparing such properties with already known malware samples.
Platforms
Depending on the chosen pricing plan, users can run Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware on up to ten different computers with a single license, which is more than most services usually allow. Unfortunately, the software is restricted to Windows. This means the product isn’t available for macOS, Linux, or mobile users.
Regardless, nearly all Windows users can have a taste of the product, since it is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10. On another positive note, even older equipment will be able to run Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware without breaking a sweat, seeing how undemanding the system requirements are. The software only requires a minimum disk space of 500MB – and takes up only about 60MB once installed – 128MB of RAM, and a CPU capacity of 233 MHz.
Pricing
Following the company’s policy on providing only what’s necessary to the customer, there are four different pricing plans that vary only in the number of PCs used. All plans are straightforward and offer all features, as well as provide access to full customer service. Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware’s cheapest plan comes in at $64.95 per year, providing one license for a single system. The prices go up as the number of systems increases, with the more expensive plan allowing you to use the software on up to ten different PCs for $229.95 per year.
If you need the software on more than one computer, purchasing a bundle is much cheaper than buying several individual licenses. The cost shrinks significantly with the more expensive plan resulting in a massive 61% discount per user. Still, we feel like prices are high, especially considering Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware offers fewer features than its competitors.
However, to sweeten the deal, Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware lets customers try out the software for a total of 60 days by combining the 30-day free trial – no need for credit card credentials – with the 30-day money-back guarantee. Payment methods include standard credit or debit cards, as well as Paypal.
Customer Service
Defencebyte’s customer support is a bit hit-and-miss. As far as static assistance goes, the two separate FAQ pages only have a few general questions and lack a more thorough approach. Similarly, the company’s YouTube page only has a couple of not-so-handy videos, and its other social media accounts (Facebook and Twitter) are rarely updated. On another note, we never got a response when using the standard email contact form, which is disappointing.
On the bright side, there’s an effective 24/7 live chat where customers can get in touch with a qualified professional in a matter of minutes. Defencebyte also provides a separate 24/7 phone number for the U.S., UK, and Australia. The company’s regularly updated blog also contains plenty of useful information and proves to be much more helpful than their FAQ pages.
Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware Support
Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware Live Chat
Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware Articles
Bottom Line
All things considered, Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware is a decent antimalware solution with enough useful features and tools. However, we can’t help to feel that it could offer better value for money, particularly when considering other products that offer many more features at lower prices. Additionally, the customer service could be improved on social media and via email. Although a third-party lab hasn’t yet examined the software, we have no complaints regarding its scanning engine. Our own tests showed that Defencebyte Anti-Ransomware’s scanner is both powerful and efficient with no interference in our PC’s performance. Its rollback feature is clearly a highlight that makes the product stand out. These make up for the software’s downsides, making it a reliable alternative for anyone looking for a simple yet robust antimalware service.
Best Alternative Antivirus Software
| Rank | Company | Info | Visit |
1 | |
| |
2 | |
| |
3 | |
|