Malwarebytes Offers US College Students 2 Years of Free Antivirus Protection
Malwarebytes, one of CNET.com’s Best Antivirus Overall Editors’ Choice award picks, is offering students at US colleges and universities two free years of...
Key points
- Malwarebytes, one of CNET.com’s Best Antivirus Overall Editors’ Choice award picks, is offering students at US colleges and universities two free years of its Malwarebytes Premium Security software suite through its Student Protection Program.
- Malwarebytes built its reputation on malware removal before expanding into a full antivirus suite with phishing and scam protection, ransomware defense and ad blocking.
- In our 2026 review, CNET’s testing team praised Malwarebytes as “an excellent choice for anyone who wants reliable security software for three or fewer devices,” awarding it our coveted Editors’ Choice badge and tying it with Bitdefender for the Best Antivirus Overall.
- The Student Protection Program is open to students 18 or older enrolled at colleges and universities in the US who can produce a .edu or .college email address.
What happened
Malwarebytes, one of CNET.com’s Best Antivirus Overall Editors’ Choice award picks, is offering students at US colleges and universities two free years of its Malwarebytes Premium Security software suite through its Student Protection Program. Malwarebytes built its reputation on malware removal before expanding into a full antivirus suite with phishing and scam protection, ransomware defense and ad blocking. In our 2026 review, CNET’s testing team praised Malwarebytes as “an excellent choice for anyone who wants reliable security software for three or fewer devices,” awarding it our coveted Editors’ Choice badge and tying it with Bitdefender for the Best Antivirus Overall. The Student Protection Program is open to students 18 or older enrolled at colleges and universities in the US who can produce a .edu or .college email address. Students can check whether their school is eligible by entering their email address at the Malwarebytes website. Free access to trusted security software can at least take one thing off a student’s already crowded plate.