Malwarebytes Techbench, plug and play malware removal

If you ever worked in tech support, or are the go-to person in your family or circle of friends when it comes to computer problems, then you know that resolving issues can take anywhere from a couple of seconds to hours and even days sometimes.

It all depends on the issue the user is experiencing. If you do tech support regularly, you probably have at least one self-burned DVD or USB Flash Drive with you at all times containing security software that helps you troubleshoot and repair PC issues.

Malwarebytes launched Techbench two days ago. It is a portable anti-malware USB stick that is fully compatible with all recent versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

According to the product description, it works by plugging it in infected computer systems. The stick will automatically run software to scan for infections and remove malicious software that was detected during the scan. According to the product page, this all happens in silent mode without user interaction.

Malwarebytes Techbench

The program saves the logs to the drive, and quarantined files as well. It can restart the PC automatically to complete the malware removal process, and will install copies of Malwarebytes AntiMalware and Chameleon on the system afterwards. Chameleon is a technology that gets the program running on infected systems (when malware has been designed to block popular anti-malware products for example).

The product costs $399.95 per year as an introductory price, and regularly $499.95. It sounds expensive at first, but it does not use the one license per PC model of regular Malwarebytes business products.

The real question though is if it is worth the money, or if it makes more sense to create your own custom malware fighting stick instead.

Since it is a business product, it is assumed that it is used in a business environment. This means that it is not possible to use the free Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free or Pro to clean infected PCs in a business context. There may be ways around this restriction, for instance by installing Malwarebytes for the user on an infected PC, but that does not work on company PCs.

There are other programs on the other hand that you can use instead to clean PCs, and it may work very well in this case.  The core advantage over Malwarebytes Techbench solution is that you can use software that runs on different operating systems, or can be run before the PC starts the infected operating system.

Note: I have contacted Malwarebytes to find out more about the solution. Especially if Windows needs to be running on infected PCs to run the tool at all, or if it comes with its own operating system that it runs from independent from the underlying operating system of the computer. I will update the article as soon as I hear back from the company.

Verdict

The main appeal of Techbench comes in the form of the automation that it provides, and its license model. I'm not sure if this is enough to make a dent in the market, as most techs that I know prefer their own custom solutions when it comes to removing malware from computer systems.

Do you think it is a feasible product?

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