App Review Avast Free Antivirus 2024

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Shadowra

Shadowra

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Avast is a well-known antivirus company, acquired by the Norton group to form the GEN group (with Norton and Avira).
However, the publisher is keeping its flagship product, which we're going to test.

Avast doesn't seem to be changing, so let's take a look.



User interface :

Avast retains the same interface it has had for several years.
The product is simple, so novices will quickly find what they're looking for, and Avast also pampers geeks with some pretty high-level settings.
One thing I like: Avast Free has a firewall! Even if it is limited...

Web protection: 9.5/10

Avast defends itself well against Internet threats.
Evo-gen was able to block unknown Trojans.
However, Avast fails to block malware that manages to launch Powershell. It will only partially block it afterwards.

Fake crack : 0,75/1

The fake crack droppers have been blocked, except for a .CPL that manages to use rundll32.exe to mine Bitcoin, without any reaction from the product or the firewall.

Malware Pack : Remaining 14 out of 856 threats.

Avast has a good scanner, and is even very fast.
Surprisingly, Avast refused to process any threats outside the video! I had to restart a scan with automatic deletion...

But I've also noticed that the Avast lab is less reactive than before. It lets several Trojans through. Even if IDP managed to block some infections, as well as CyberCapture.
The machine is partially infected, but can still be saved.

Final scan :
Avast: 0 (detection comes from AtlasOS, I don't know)
NPE: 5
KVRT: 5

Final opinion: Avast is an antivirus recommended for cautious surfers.
However, it is not suitable for small PCs, as Avast often consumes a lot of resources.
There's still work to be done on unknown detections.
 

Dave Russo

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I have a Avast internet security subscription,but the main reason I do not use it is it blocks a sport streaming site I really use a lot and thou I tried putting in exception for it,still blocked, Kaspersky on the other hand,seems to neutralize threat ,and I still can watch, Malwarebytes was the same problem in the past,just wish they all (web protection ) gave user option to proceed when you want
 

Moonhorse

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avast/avg been top contender after kaspersky in 2023, its kinda weird to see it getting infected, but no product is perfect.

I believe you can set up strict mode on firewall in paid avast, but not sure if its still a thing
 

Shadowra

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avast/avg been top contender after kaspersky in 2023, its kinda weird to see it getting infected, but no product is perfect.

I believe you can set up strict mode on firewall in paid avast, but not sure if its still a thing

In fact, even if the machine ends up infected, Avast still deserves credit :)

There's also Microsoft Defender, which is a serious challenger, including Avira (videos coming soon).
 

Nunzio_77

Level 1
Dec 3, 2023
11
Finally Avast Free has added "limited notification" in the notification settings which shows alerts when a malicious attack is detected, but blocks any pop-up offers. :I approve
So, finally, commercial pop-ups with offers should not appear for those who do not want to view them.
I'm using version 23.12.6094 (build 23.12.8700.813) and UI (1.0.793)

Immagine-2024-01-23-215913.png
 
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LennyFox

Level 7
Jan 18, 2024
307
Finally Avast Free has added "limited notification" in the notification settings which shows alerts when a malicious attack is detected, but blocks any pop-up offers. :I approve
So, finally, commercial pop-ups with offers should not appear for those who do not want to view them.
I'm using version 23.12.6094 (build 23.12.8700.813) and UI (1.0.793)

View attachment 281380
Great improvement. Thanks for posting (y)

I always liked Avast free because it offers full protection and free participates in most lab-tests, but always when i installed Avast Free because of the positive results, their upgrade annoyances made remove it again. I have installed it for fun, to see whether the upgrade annoyances will de-install soon again.
 

Arequire

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Feb 10, 2017
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I have installed it for fun, to see whether the upgrade annoyances will de-install soon again.
I have too, and my continued usage will depend on whether it stays silent. Though I only installed file and behaviour shields, so I wouldn't be surprised if it nags me about how 'critical' the web and/or mail shield is.
 
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