Avast New Version: 18.1.2326

[Captain Awesome]

Good news everyone,
new stable version 18.1.2326 has just been released.


What's new:

- You can now add multiple files to your Virus Chest at once
- We now better handle opening multiple Avast windows at once
- We've optimized scans of downloaded executable (.exe) files
- We now warn you if you try to shut down Windows during installation to ensure your Avast installation finishes properly
- Avast updates and installations are now more reliable thanks to our new fallback HTTPS server that kicks in if our standard servers are not reachable
- We've added a new Anti-Exploit module for better protection against exploits, shellcode, and other malicious executable files
- Hate being tracked online? Check out the new Avast AntiTrack offer we've added to your Privacy menu (now only in English version)


Fixed:

- Fixed scanning of files in your Virus Chest
- Fixed some problems with the Outlook plugin
- Fixed wrong text in the Recycle Bin context menu
- Fixed the name of the Avast window in the taskbar
- Fixed an annoying bug that minimized games every 30 minutes


How to install:

1. Update from your existing Avast version via Settings -> Update -> Update program

2. Or you can download and install from here

Online installers (recommended):

http://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_free_antivirus_setup.exe

http://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_internet_security_setup.exe

http://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_premier_antivirus_setup.exe

Offline installers:

http://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_free_antivirus_setup_offline.exe

http://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_internet_security_setup_offline.exe

http://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_premier_antivirus_setup_offline.exe

We hope you enjoy the new version!
AVAST Team

 

[Syafiq]

Is avast protects USB drives after connecting to the computer ? I saw on my friend pc that is having Avast installed but it's not detecting the USB malware on-access, but the USB drive needs to be scanned manually

 

[Deleted member 65228]

Is avast protects USB drives after connecting to the computer ? I saw on my friend pc that is having Avast installed but it's not detecting the USB malware on-access, but the USB drive needs to be scanned manually

Yes, it can detect and scan removable media.

Was your friend using a custom configuration?

I used Avast for 2 years a few years ago and it had no problem identifying removable media.

 

[Azure]

At the Avast forum, this was stated regarding the new anti-exploit protection

NEW Version: 18.1.2326
"No, you can have both. The technology of Avast Anti-Exploit is kind of similar to Behavioral Shield, but with focus on different characteristics (and different malware behavior). It runs on background and evaluates the processes behavior. It also scans the process for know virus signatures in certain trigger points."

 

[Deleted member 65228]

It also scans the process for know virus signatures in certain trigger points.

Clever.

This should improve detection because packed malware may surpass the traditional static scanning engines on-demand/real-time, and a sample may potentially bypass memory scanning with techniques for memory access protection, exception handling, etc. Even their sandbox scanning mechanism, it can be surpassed by simply "sleeping" the thread/s for around 10-15 seconds before executing any of the real code; by the time the time-out has completed the program would have already been classified as safe and restarted outside of the sandbox container (cannot remember the exact feature name within Avast UI for it).

However, because of the new exploit protection feature which has the process memory scanning capabilities, malware previously executed which surpassed the other defences can still be flagged now. It's likely most effective on packed/encrypted content though. For example, a packed malware sample manages to surpass the defences and become executed in memory, but now it'll "unpack"/"decrypt" itself in-memory. When the Anti-Exploit feature comes back to scan the memory, it'll find the unpacked copy and thus now a generic signature in their database may pick up a match.

I don't know the internals of their new feature and this process scanning technique will just be one embedded into the Anti-Exploit component, I'm just guessing that this is how that process scanning feature works. It might not be even remotely close to accurate on how this feature works but it makes perfect sense to me at-least.

 

[amico81]

At the Avast forum, this was stated regarding the new anti-exploit protection

NEW Version: 18.1.2326
"No, you can have both. The technology of Avast Anti-Exploit is kind of similar to Behavioral Shield, but with focus on different characteristics (and different malware behavior). It runs on background and evaluates the processes behavior. It also scans the process for know virus signatures in certain trigger points."

it this feature just in the paid version or in the free too?

 

[Captain Awesome]

it this feature just in the paid version or in the free too?

Avast Anti-Exploit is free.

 

[Azure]

it this feature just in the paid version or in the free too?

I'm not using Avast, so someone else might want to confirm it. But based on the screenshot in here, then it appears it is available in the the free version.
Avast Free Antivirus 2018 adds Anti-Exploit Module | Techdows

 

[tigeriser]

it this feature just in the paid version or in the free too?

It is also available within the Avast free version, but it does not have a separate UI like other modules/components. Instead it is just a click away with many other options under Settings>Troubleshooting>Enable anti-exploit module.

 

[Rebsat]

Avast! Free Antivirus 2018 v18.1.2326 - Security - Downloads
WebShield has switched to a smarter and more compatible system of HTTPS scanning, as used in Firefox, Chrome and Opera.
The interface has been optimised and improved. It's not available in Avast! Free, but upgrading to a commercial edition also gets you a new SafeZone browser, which now does an even better job of protecting your web transactions from keyloggers and other malware.

Why this new WebShield isn't available in Avast Free?

 

[Evjl's Rain]

Why this new WebShield isn't available in Avast Free?

It's not available in Avast! Free, but upgrading to a commercial edition also gets you a new SafeZone browser, which now does an even better job of protecting your web transactions from keyloggers and other malware.

no web shield is still there and fully functional
only the new safezone browser is not available
I can't confirm it because I'm using avast IS
safezone browser is good for banking but it's super slow

 

[Pirate_fin]

I noticed that F-Secure Freedome tracking protection is blocking these url's v7.stats.avast.com and v7event.stats.avast.com, so does anybody know if avast still work properly if those are blocked?

I have contacted F-Secure about those url's, but they are still being blocked.

 

[tigeriser]

I noticed that F-Secure Freedome tracking protection is blocking these url's v7.stats.avast.com and v7event.stats.avast.com, so does anybody know if avast still work properly if those are blocked?

I have contacted F-Secure about those url's, but they are still being blocked.

These urls don't seem linked with the core functionalities of Avast.