Malwarebytes Acquires AdwCleaner

Malwarebytes, the security company behind the popular anti-malware program of the same name, has acquired AdwCleaner. In the future, the security company will integrate parts of the program into its own software.

AdwCleaner and MBAM will continue to exist as separate programs for the time being, although AdwCleaner has been provided with a Malwarebytes logo since version 6.030. Malwarebytes says it plans to integrate techniques from AdwCleaner into its own products.

Both programs focus on removing unwanted programs, but with a different approach. MBAM is a general malware scanner. It detects trojans, spyware and other similar software. It finds many puppies, but does not always remove them thoroughly. AdwCleaner specializes in removing these pups. It detects unwanted bundled programs such as toolbars and browser extensions and removes them from the computer.

Malwarebytes indicates that AdwCleaner is downloaded 200,000 times a day and is now installed on 200 million computers worldwide. The company does not state how many times MBAM has been downloaded. AdwCleaner is free to download and MBAM has a free and a premium version. The free version serves only as a virus scanner and the premium version offers additional features such as real-time protection.