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As the ransomware epidemic is going on a rampage, there is no computer completely immune to crypto-backed onslaughts. Victims – both home users and enterprises – get locked out of their important data and pressured into paying Bitcoins for decryption. Quite a few hallmark signs of the present-day ransom Trojans complicate regular detection. For instance, the malicious code may utilize exploits, abuse Remote Desktop Protocol or employ sophisticated obfuscation techniques to make the payload appear harmless. Some high-profile infections from this cluster even leverage a fileless contamination chain that allows them to fly under the radar of conventional defenses by injecting the malicious routine into legitimate Windows processes.
The Ransomware Defender application by ShieldApps was designed to fill the void between the increasingly complex attack tactics and inefficient detection mechanisms. Certified by AppEsteem, a reputable software evaluation company, it delivers active protection against file-encrypting malware as well as extensive options for on-demand scanning to accurately spot such perpetrating code. The utility easily identifies and blocks all catalogued and unique ransomware strains before they are able to do any damage. It also features flexible scan scheduling and automatic daily threat definitions updates to make the protection lasting and hassle-free. Furthermore, Ransomware Defender goes equipped with useful extras to protect privacy, fend off online threats, and optimize system start-up.
Installation of ShieldApps Ransomware Defender is a streamlined process that doesn’t require any special skills and takes a couple of minutes. You can opt for fully-functional 14-day trial period or register the product right away for $49.95. The first screen that pops up during the setup is about End User License Agreement acceptance, a standard one-click technicality. Once you agree, the “Installing Ransomware Defender” window will appear. This routine consists of 3 distinct phases: preparing the computer, installing software, and getting the latest definitions.
The application’s dark-gray GUI appears automatically right after the installation has been completed. It is clean and doesn’t include any redundant items. The main controls on the Overview pane are scan types, active protection, and threat definitions. The quick scan option is toggled on by default, so if you click the green Scan button at the bottom of the interface without changing any settings, Ransomware Defender will start checking the system paths most frequently hosting ransomware executables (AppData, LocalAppData, Program Files, ProgramData, and Windows).
Other scan modes include deep scan and custom scan. The former traverses the entire hard drive for ransomware traces, and the latter allows you to define specific folders to be checked. Be advised different scan types take different amounts of time to complete. In our case, the program ran quick scan for 1-2 minutes on average, whereas deep scan was a 28-30 minutes wait. You can view all previous reports on the History screen, but note that the logs are deleted in 30 days unless specified otherwise.
Another pane called Manage, which is available in the upper part of the GUI, provides the following controls: History (mentioned above), Quarantine, Always allowed, Schedule scans, and Ransomware Defender updates. Yet another tab called Tools includes additional privacy and optimization features: History Cleaner (clears temporary files as well as search and browser history), Secure File Eraser (wipes selected files with multiple overwrites to thwart forensic recovery), and Start-Up Manager (identifies processes launched at boot time and allows disabling unneeded ones).
By the way, ShieldApps Ransomware Defender gets automatically added to the start-up list after installation in order to protect the computer at all times. A noteworthy fact is that the product being reviewed can run alongside other antimalware suites, adding a supplementary counter-ransomware module to your security posture.
When it comes to the feature set of a security solution, quantity and quality don’t necessarily cohere. Ransomware Defender goes with nothing more than the essentials that suffice to do the protection job right.
The product under scrutiny boasts a higher ransomware detection rate than most of the popular antivirus and antimalware suites that don’t focus specifically on combatting file-encrypting threats alone. The narrow specialty of ShieldApps Ransomware Defender certainly plays into users’ hands as its architecture aligns with the relevant knowledgebase on the particular modus operandi of ransomware threats. The tool intelligently prioritizes areas to monitor so that a crypto intruder is spotted and eradicated before it gets down to encrypting your personal data. Frequent definition updates keep the program highly reactive to the latest ransomware strains, and its heuristics won’t fail to identify emerging menaces that aren’t catalogued yet.
Product support is at your fingertips as the GUI of Ransomware Defender contains the appropriate Help icon in its upper right-hand corner. It leads to a dedicated web page covering frequently asked questions. A little nuance we noticed is that although the page says you can send a query via a form below the FAQs, this form is nowhere to be found there. So it takes some browsing the vendor’s site to actually submit your issue to support agents. Aside from this channel of getting assistance, there used to be an option to reach ShieldApps representatives by dialing a toll free phone number indicated at the top of the main application pane. It looks like this channel has been removed in Ransomware Defender v4.2.0. The publisher does provide an email address on its site for general questions and support.
ShieldApps Ransomware Defender delivers a robust security barrier standing sentinel to protect a Windows computer against increasingly sophisticated file-encrypting threats. It is very easy to use and boasts small footprint on system performance. Be advised, though, that it should be used in tandem with a regular antivirus or antimalware suite to ensure comprehensive protection from different angles.
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