Why does legitimate anti-malware software interfere with my browsing?

In this excerpt from
Answercast #50, I look at a machine that downloaded an extra software
package and then started behaving strangely.

Malware tool mistakes

The short answer is it happens.

The issue is that many of these anti-malware tools (various different
security suites) attempt to insert themselves into your internet conversation
when you’re using your browser. In other words:

• They’re actually looking at what’s coming down into your browser;

• And scanning it on the fly trying to protect you from malicious sites, bad
  links, who knows what.

In some cases, simply the act of doing that may render some things
inaccessible due to the software declaring something as say a false
positive.

• They’ll think a link is malicious when in fact, it is not.

More commonly, however, (and this is what it sounds like is happening to you)
is that the software is installed into your browser in such a way that it just
doesn’t work quite right.

Real-time scanning

It’s one of those things. My blanket advice for anti-malware tools (almost
always) is to:

• Turn off what I call “real-time scanning” of email;

• And “real-time scanning” of internet web browsing.

That gets the software out of the conversation, out of the way, and prevents
it from doing this kind of thing.

Causes of failure

I know that it works. I mean obviously, the feature is there – and works for
a lot of people. But it is known to fail in some cases. And those cases depend
on all sorts of things like:

• The speed of your machine,

• The browsers,

• The add-ons you have in your browsers,

• The software that happens to be running at the time.

I mean, there’s a very complex equation that says whether or not this is going
to work or not-work for you. When it doesn’t work, I just say – turn that
feature off.

Uninstall questionable tools

Now, in your case, you uninstalled the program, which is fine. That’s a good
solution, assuming you’ve got a different anti-malware solution in place. In
other words, assuming you’ve got some kind of anti-virus or anti-spyware tool
that is successfully running and not interfering with your activities.

Careful what you download

Ultimately, I don’t want to call it a mistake, but I will say that it’s a
decision that I would not have made… and that is:

• Checking that checkbox when you’re downloading another program.

So in your case, you took an update from Adobe and they offered you this
other thing. You know what? Never, ever take those! The reason I say that is
because in this particular case, you got lucky. The offering from Adobe (this
other software that came down with it) is apparently legitimate software:

• It’s a well-known manufacturer and it uninstalled and worked fine.

• All too often these, what I call “drive by downloads”… they don’t;

• They are from less than reputable companies;

• They install things that you don’t want;

• And they can be incredibly difficult to uninstall.

So if there’s anything I would have changed about the scenario that you’ve
described, it’s that when you’re downloading a product (be it an update or a
new product that you’re getting, or just some other kind of download), take only
what you’re there for:

• Say no to all of the other things that are offered with it that don’t
  relate to what it is you actually are there for.

I see too many people get their machines messed up by some of this
additional software that seems to come down that way. So, in your case, you got
lucky. It uninstalled and that’s great. Avoid doing that kind of thing in the
future.