Is it just me or does HitmanPro keep losing AV engines?

Each update there seem to be less participants.

Now it's only 4 and that is including EMisisoft which is basically Bitdefender or Ikarus. So it's realistically 3 engines.
It started out with 6 where they used to include CLAMAV and AVIRA and maybe AVAST. WTF is going on?

 

Re: Is it just me or does HitmanPro keeps loosing AV engines?

I don't recall them having ClamAV, but I do recall Avira and Eset. They switch engines sometimes and a new one will be back. Dr Web which is now gone came in place of some other engine as well(I think that was Avira?)

 

Re: Is it just me or does HitmanPro keeps loosing AV engines?

or malwarebytes

 

Re: Is it just me or does HitmanPro keeps loosing AV engines?

Isn't Ikarus gone from EMsisoft?

 

Re: Is it just me or does HitmanPro keeps loosing AV engines?

yep. EAM uses Bitdefender now.
It's too bad they didn't keep Dr Web. I swear that Dr web found some malware that a lot of others didn't Must be the russian sigs.

 

Re: Is it just me or does HitmanPro keeps losing AV engines?

very true

 

Originally (3.5) they had:
IKARUS
Dr.Web
Emsisoft
Prevx
G Data

Good observation on the dwindling engines. And here I have a 2-year licence going

 

From the HitmanPro thead:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2209660&postcount=5216

 

Re: Is it just me or does HitmanPro keeps loosing AV engines?

Same here. The loss of Dr.Web is bad for Hitman. Hope the newcomer is a good one!

 

Well, it's not hard to see why. 1 possible factor is that the AV vendors that strikes a deal with SurfRight need to make estimations and evaluate whether it's good or bad for their overall business.

What I'm saying is that although Hitman Pro is marketed as a "second opinion scanner", it's still a competitor and the potential to lose a portion of potential/current customers is there. It's only a matter of how much and whether the gains outweigh the loss.

Different vendors have different priorities and strategies.

 

Starting a HitmanPro discussion outside the HitmanPro thread will go unnoticed by us. Thanks to Tony R for pointing out this new discussion

That's highly exaggerated. Not with every update an engine is lost. If that were true we would have -188 engines. But I understand your concern.

As can be seen from the HitmanPro splash dialog, we currently run the following engines in our Scan Cloud (in alphabetical order):

• Bitdefender
• Emsisoft
• Ikarus
• G Data

In addition, you have the option to upload a suspicious file to VirusTotal as well (which has 46 engines), as we have integrated it in the HitmanPro client. As of build 190 no VirusTotal API key is required (thanks to direct support from VirusTotal). Improvements to the VirusTotal integration will be made in future builds, like automatic uploads to VT. This will be an opt-in feature and is not default enabled.

But IMO you are emphasizing too much on the use of engines. HitmanPro is a behavioral scanner. If you have a live infection, HitmanPro will list the zero-day malware file 9 out of 10 times: without internet connection. The cloud scanners are only there to confirm HitmanPro's findings and to name the malware found. And as stated in the EULA, paragraph 4: “Internet-based Services: SurfRight provides Internet-based Services with the Software. It may change or cancel them at any time.”

Unlike other malware removal applications, HitmanPro is the only tool that removes bootkits (MBR/VBR) and rootkits, replace infected system files with originals, has Kickstart integrated to easily remove ransomware or FakeAVs (no need for Linux or safe mode), is quick, does not need installation and does not conflict with any existing AV. Just to name a few unique features.

As stated in the HitmanPro thread, we are in the process of adding an extra engine to the cloud. Adding engines increases detection rate, but also false positive rate. So we have to choose our engines wisely.

I cannot elaborate on which new engine we are currently testing. Sorry.

Hope this helps.

 

GData, Bitdefender and Emsisoft all use the same engine.

I would go with Bitdefender, Ikarus, Avast and Avira.
Just my 2 cents...

 

We currently use Bitdefender through the G Data engine. We use Emsisoft with the Ikarus engine (not the Bitdefender engine).

 

Ok.
But again, BD and Ikarus share the same engine.
Drop two of them and save some money.

GData And Emsisoft also have their own in-house engines, so keeping these two products is a way to go...
BTW, Is Emsi's database still updated with Ikarus signatures? I'm not so sure...

 

No Ikarus is not using Bitdefender engine. Emsisoft uses Bitdefender nowadays.

Yes it is. Depends on which version you use.

 

I did notice that...missing an engine. Figured it was "vapor lock".

 

Well right now it's:

- GDATA: Avast! and Bitdefender

- Bitdefender

- IKARUS

- Emsisoft: Emsisoft and Bitdefender.

So really there are 4 unique engines (Avast!, Bitdefender, IKARUS, Emsisoft), with 2 redundant Bitdefenders (GDATA and Emsisoft).

 

I updated HMP the other day...

 

GData 2014 now uses in-house engine instead of avast's.

 

So much confusion...