Does Malwarebytes Free update browsers automatically?

Hello. I have recently had shortcuts appear on my desktop for Opera Stable. I used to have Opera installed but hadn't used it in a long time and I'm not completely sure whether or not I had uninstalled it a long time ago. After deleting a new Opera shortcut from my desktop for the second time, I opened Revo Uninstaller to just remove Opera. I was surprised to see that the installation date listed is today.

Googling has lead me to a lot of dead-ends because people are searching for browser extensions and hijacking with regard to Malwarebytes, and I wasn't able to find any clear answers to my questions.

I did stumble across this site which seems to be a business version of Malewarebytes that does automatically update browsers - Access Denied (Scroll down to the second image on the page.)

Malwarebytes Adw Cleaner also seems to automatically update browsers - Malwarebytes AdwCleaner 7.2.4 comes with Automatic Updater

I used Revo Uninstaller to remove Opera Stable, but I am confused and suspicious about how and why it was installed today. Google Chrome, which I do use, was also updated today. Firefox was updated yesterday, but I use that all the time (like right now) and I have it set to notify me first. I tend to download right away but then sometimes procrastinate with restarting FF, so that may be legit. Dropbox was updated five days ago, and I can't find the settings from the taskbar but I think it normally updates automatically.

I had the free trial of the regular premium Malwarebytes that recently expired, and I left the free version on my system... but those sites linked above made me wonder if Malwarebytes is responsible for newly installed versions of Opera, and maybe Chrome and/or Dropbox.

Can anybody familiar with free Malwarebytes shed any light on this? Is it normal for Malwarebytes to update browsers and/or any other programs other than itself?

Snick said:

Hi blue skies,

In short NO!

Malwarebytes and ADW Cleaner Auto-Update is for the program, nothing to do with browser.

Your Browsers, however, in options, has auto updated, for that browser.

So, therefore, you have auto-update set on your Opera, Chrome, and Dropbox is most-likely set to synchronize your Dropbox folder on your computer to your cloud Dropbox.

Malwarebytes when it changes from Free-Trial with real time protection, to free, without real time protections. Scans manually still work.

If you do not have another Anti-Virus running, you are vulnerable to malware.

Recommended AV’s, malware scanner, adware scanner, pup scanners

Thank you very much for your reply, Snick! I have Microsoft Security Essentials always running. It may just be that Opera really was set to auto-update (and Chrome too) and I just didn't realize it. I tend to prefer to be notified about any updates before they are installed. I have always had Windows set to notify me before downloading or installing updates, but a while back I had noticed some Windows Updates were downloaded and installed automatically, which is why I ended up downloading the free trial of Malwarebytes just to make sure I wasn't missing anything malicious. (I also have used the MVPS Hosts file for more than a decade, which hopefully has given me added protection.)

When the Opera shortcut appeared on my desktop for the second time (within the last week or so)... it made me nervous, and I didn't want to even click on it to see if it was set to auto-update in case it was malware. Especially since it had a slightly different name than expected, with the 'stable' part of it... and when I googled about it, there were a number of results suggesting "Opera Stable" could be a virus.

I ran full scans last night with updated Malwarebytes (free) and MSE, and nothing was found. Hopefully those were just normal browser updates that were set to happen automatically, and I just didn't realize it since I don't normally use Opera. (Or Chrome very often.)

Thank you for clarifying that it wasn't Malwarebytes updating those programs. I appreciate you taking the time to reply!

Snick said:

I have my Win Update set to:

Check for update but let me choose to download and install them

Always a prudent to leave browsers set to auto-update.

I have my Windows Update set the same way. And I would probably do that for my browsers too, but I have had updates mess up my OneTab extension (twice!) - deleting thousands of saved tabs. At least if I haven't backed them up in a while, I will usually do that before a browser update.

Thanks again, Snick. :)