Recently, we have had a few clients choose to veer from our recommended anti-virus solution into the realm of “as-seen-on-tv” products. I am referring, in this case, to PC Matic. The commercials are everywhere. They are especially prevalent on late night tv when gamers and surfers are more likely to be active.
It sounds good enough: Full and added protection for your computer at a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions. However, if it is too good to be true, it generally is. From our experience and the experience of several reviewers, PC Matic falls short, very short in some cases, of the protection level and functionality of a traditional anti-virus solution. We have included excerpts of and links to several reviews:
- Pros
Whitelist-based antivirus blocks all types of malware. Blocked all samples in our testing. Inexpensive.
- Cons
Whitelist-based antivirus also blocks valid programs. Many false positives in independent lab tests. Few results from testing labs. Full malware scan missed most samples.
- Bottom Line
PC Matic blocks execution of any program that isn’t on its whitelist, which includes all types of malware. It has a great price per device, but you’ll have to put up with it occasionally blocking valid programs, too.
PC Mag also reviewed our recommended solution, ESET Nod32 Anti-Virus. Click for their full ESET review.
Bleeping Computer, an industry authority, got the attention of PC Matic with this review in 2014. As a result, PC Matic visited with Bleeping Computer at their headquarters, listened to feedback and made some changes, which are outlined later in the post. Bleeping Computer maintains, however, that the white listing basis for the software is not ideal and the included registry cleaner function, while it must be enabled manually, is a dangerous and finicky function.
In March 2017, our recommended malware protection provider, Malwarebytes, posted a blog outlining the reason that Malwarebytes flags PC Matic as a “Potentially Unsafe Program” . The core reasons reference registry cleaning, the addition of an admin user in the back ground, referencing temp files and cookies as unsafe, removing necessary applications, and disabling the fragmentation service. While Malwarebytes posts an update at the end that their software no longer detects PC Matic software as a “PUP” due to changes to the application, the following reviews from Amazon purchasers should be taken into consideration.
Users have commented on their experience with PC Matic on Amazon reviews. As recently as April 2017, a user stated: “I used PC Matic and PCmagnum. It turned out to be a disaster. The Spora Virus got into my computer and encrypted ALL my files.” An IT company commented in September 2011, that “….I can’t trust it. [The software] generates false positives..doesn’t properly detect out of date drivers….scans very slowly.”
It should be noted that lab testing studies referenced by PC Matic have been conducted largely independent 3rd party labs. Such labs are paid for testing by the company whose software is tested. These studies, while informative, are performed differently than those done by industry testing labs.
Take some time to read through the links provided, do your own search and make an informed decision. As always, feel free to call us with any questions you may have.