Malwarebytes Anti-Ransomware is a simple tool which aims to block ransomware - even the very latest, undiscovered variants - before it even starts to encrypt your files.

The package is lightweight, essentially just a Windows service, so can run alongside other Malwarebytes products or antivirus tools without difficulty.

You won't spend any time managing it, either, because there's hardly anything to do. The interface has a "Dashboard" tab where you can turn protection on or off, a Quarantine tab to delete any detected malware, an Exclusions tab to tell the program a particular application is safe, and that's it. You may never need to even look at any of this.

What's the program doing, we wondered - and does it work? Right now, it's too early to say, but the initial signs are good.

Malwarebytes hired the developer of the highly regarded CryptoMonitor to work on Anti-Ransomware, so this isn't some me-too starter product: there's real long-term experience behind it.