Features and support
Avast 8, comparable with the 2013 version of competing suites, includes
several new features that directly affect your security. Changes to
existing Avast features include increasing the number of virus
definition file updates per day, from 20 or so in the previous version
to more than 70 per day in version 8. When running on battery on
laptops, Avast will automatically disable scans until the device is
plugged in, and the suite now offers full IPv6 support.
Like both the paid and free competition, Avast has a file reputation
system for evaluating downloads. The browser add-on WebRep for
on-the-fly site evaluation that also checks for fake site certificates
is lighter on your browser than competitors' heavyweight toolbars.
The free version of Avast is arguably the most comprehensive set of
freely available security features on the market. There's a reason these
guys have more than 170 million active users (at the time this review
was written). The antivirus, antispyware, and heuristics engines form a
security core that also includes multiple real-time shields. Along with
the new features, it's got Sandbox for automatically walling off
suspicious programs; a full complement of shields that guard against
scripts, P2P networks, instant messaging, and potentially dangerous
program behavior; a silent/gaming mode; on-demand boot scanning; and a
healthy output of statistics for the data nerds.
Avast's Sandbox, by the way, automatically places programs in a
virtualized state when it suspects them of being threats. It walls off
suspicious programs, preventing them from potentially damaging your
system while allowing them to run. As the program runs, the Sandbox
keeps track of which files are opened, created, or renamed, and what it
reads and writes from the registry. Permanent changes are virtualized,
so when the process terminates itself, the system changes it made will
evaporate.
Avast's
new browser cleanup tool would've been killer a few years back, but
it's still useful for keeping your browser ship-shape. It's available in
all four versions.
(Credit:
Avast)
The company hasn't said whether the virtualized state begins after the
program already has access to your system, so it's theoretically
possible that it could be compromised. There's not a single security
feature in any program that hasn't been been compromised at some point,
though, so "theoretically hackable" is true of all security features.
But it's the new features that drive interest in the suite, and this
year's got some very interesting improvements and one dud. The new
Software Updater tells you when your programs are out of date, but it
doesn't leave you hanging. It provides links to update them directly
from within Avast.
This includes known security vectors such as Java, Flash, QuickTime, and
PDF readers. In the free version, the updater will automatically
download the software update, which then opens its installer. It still
relies on user interaction to complete the install, though. In Pro and
Internet Security, you get a one-click update that downloads and
silently installs the update. The Premier version removes the
requirement for any user interaction whatsoever -- updates happen
automatically and silently.
The new Browser Cleanup tool is available as a standalone download that
doesn't require you to use Avast, but it also comes baked into all
versions of the suite. It checks the internal storage and registry of
Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome, searches for plug-in and toolbar
references and helps you uninstall them.
Two entirely new features do the most to differentiate Avast Premier
from its siblings. The suite includes a Data Shredder to ensure that
deleted files and folders are unrecoverable using "conventional"
techniques. It offers the industry standard three shredding options: a
random overwrite, which overwrites files a user-specified number of
times with semirandom bytes; a Department of Defense standard of
overwriting; and the Gutmann method, the slowest of the three but the
most secure.
You'll also be able to wipe only free disk space of remaining instances
of data, or wipe an entire partition including on solid state drives,
creating some nuance to its deletion options.
It looks like last year's Remote Assistance feature, for
single-instance, friend-to-friend remote tech support, has been
overhauled and turned into the new AccessAnywhere feature, the second
Premier-only feature. It requires you to have Avast on both ends, which
wouldn't be so bad, but the installation process for Avast is not as
simple or fast as the installation for programs that focus on remote
access, like LogMeIn or TeamViewer. Avast's installer alone runs more
than 100MB, and the Avast requirement -- as opposed to gaining access
through your browser -- hamstrings its utility.
Key is W95284136H1200A0415-ADH7P677
( Not Tested )
