FS Protection PC 18.1 releases (beta)

[Lord Ami]

Release 18.1 beta 1 (4.60.1050):​

New features:

• Login during installation now happens as part of main UI. Login is rendered with Microsoft Edge WebView2 (Chromium engine). Login should now render better and also support accessibility features.
  • This requires Microsoft Edge WebView2 runtime to be installed. If it's not, the installer will install it for you.
• Product update message is simplified and now directly links to release notes.
• Small changes to subscription view.

Known issues:

• Manage subscription button is disabled in People & Devices view. This will be fixed in next beta.

Removed features:

• We have now completed the 2 year project to convert all UIs to .NET technology. Qt library is removed from the product, including ICU library and OpenSSL. This changed also the UI paradigm: with old UI, it was always running in memory, consuming memory and a bit of CPU even if user did not want to view the UI. It also needed to be loaded into memory after restart, affecting computer performance in restart. The new .NET based UI works so that UI is loaded into memory only when user opens it, resulting in less resource usage when app is protecting in the background.

 

[CyberDevil]

I'm not sure where I can ask, but since I have this particular version of FS-Protection, I think I can ask here? Can someone tell me how to add the HOSTS file to the exceptions? I use it as one of the ways to block telemetry and FS-Protection constantly resets it. I wanted to create an exception, but the built-in file manager just doesn't see the "etc"folder.

Upd: Oh, I'm sorry, I can see it now. You had to let it delete HOSTS to restore it from quarantine. This is not entirely obvious and is a bit strange.

How to allow a quarantined hosts file and exclude the file from scanning - F-Secure Community

How to allow a quarantined hosts file and exclude the file from scanning This article only applies to you if you have modified a hosts file and the file gets quarantined. A hosts file that has been modified may trigger a detection (Redirected hosts file) because the scanning engines in our...

community.f-secure.com

 

[CyberDevil]

FS Protection PC 18.1 releases

FS Protection PC 18.1 releases will be posted under this thread.

community.f-secure.com

Release 18.1 beta 2 (4.60.1384):​

New features:

• Automatic gaming mode. This feature is only available in Windows 10 RS5 or newer versions. You can set it enabled in Settings / Scanning settings (default: on), which also shows the last detected gaming session. Additionally you must have "Game Mode" turned on in Windows settings (default: on). Note: in non-English installations, the "Gaming mode" setting name and description are not translated yet.

Fixed issues:

• Manage subscription links disabled (PBL-8402)
• Manage subscription button is clickable and "Subscription valid" line is shown before logging in (PBL-8369)
• Main UI with "task not completed" opens instead of the login window when installing SAFE with non-embedded installer (PBL-8413)
• Login screen is shown when you launch the installer if SAFE is installed (PBL-8423)

Removed features:

• Gaming mode selection was removed from tray icon. You can't enable it manually, it's fully automatic now.

So far, mostly improving the UI, but I think it needs to improve the self-defense a little. Except the "F-Secure Ultralight Protected Hoster" process, I can safely terminate all antivirus tasks in the task manager, after which Windows writes that virus protection is disabled.

 

[MacDefender]

FS Protection PC 18.1 releases

FS Protection PC 18.1 releases will be posted under this thread.

community.f-secure.com

So far, mostly improving the UI, but I think it needs to improve the self-defense a little. In addition to the "F-Secure Ultralight Protected Hoster" process, I can safely terminate all antivirus tasks in the task manager, after which Windows writes that virus protection is disabled.

It's funny because many of us have pointed this out to F-Secure, and their response is basically that if malware tries to do this, DeepGuard will stop it. Well, that's kind of true -- when I tested this with PE proof of concepts, DeepGuard will kill your process if it tries to look for those processes, much less kill it.

But of course, as we've seen, DeepGuard is blind to certain scriptors that don't go through WSH, and even creating a batch file to kill F-Secure will do it.


I 100% agree that I want to see more of their focus on improving F-Secure. They've got such great fundamentals between their multiple scanning engines and DeepGuard... But it could be even better if they addressed some of these systematic weaknesses.

 

[MacDefender]

P.S. Here's a formal test: On the topic of terminating F-Secure processes....

 

[Lord Ami]

Release 18.1 beta 3 (4.60.1727):​

New features:

• Identity Protection feature card will show up in the main UI dashboard if you have license for it. You can proceed download and install fs id guardian from there. If you already have fs id guardian installed in your machine, you can also launch it from the feature card. (Note that there are some localization still missing, which will be fixed in the next updates.)

Fixed issues:

• Main UI crash trying to login without WebView2 (PBL-8418)
• After the Gaming session you have to click Check for updates several times to check for them (PBL-8461)
• 18.1 beta 1 on upgrade to beta 2 required reboot in Win 8.1 (PBL-8468)
• Stop scan button doesn't work like default button when hitting Enter (PBL-8481)

 

[Lord Ami]

Release 18.1 beta 4 (4.60.2222):​

New features:

• Banking Protection now blocks remote access to your computer during Banking Protection session. The feature prevents phone scammers from leveraging remote access software to perform online thefts. If you need remote access for your own legitimate use, there is a new setting under Secure Browsing settings that can be used to disable the feature.
• Dark mode support for user interfaces. This is still work in progress and not all user interfaces support dark mode yet. The dark mode is automatically selected based on Windows settings in Windows 10.
• During the parental control device lock, hot keys (Alt+Tab, Alt+Space, etc) are hooked to prevent switching away from the lock screen. In addition, the countdown has been reduced to 30 seconds from 60.

Known issues:

• Remote blocking feature does not always work with Ammyy Admin, RealVNC, Splashtop, Remote Desktop Connection (PBL-8584, PBL-8589, PBL-8591, PBL-8575)

Fixed issues:

• Main UI crash if registry key is not readable (PBL-8569)

A few examples:

 

[upnorth]

Dark mode!

Spoiler

 

[Szellem]

Release 18.1 beta 4 (4.60.2222):​

New features:

• Banking Protection now blocks remote access to your computer during Banking Protection session. The feature prevents phone scammers from leveraging remote access software to perform online thefts. If you need remote access for your own legitimate use, there is a new setting under Secure Browsing settings that can be used to disable the feature.
• Dark mode support for user interfaces. This is still work in progress and not all user interfaces support dark mode yet. The dark mode is automatically selected based on Windows settings in Windows 10.
• During the parental control device lock, hot keys (Alt+Tab, Alt+Space, etc) are hooked to prevent switching away from the lock screen. In addition, the countdown has been reduced to 30 seconds from 60.

Known issues:

• Remote blocking feature does not always work with Ammyy Admin, RealVNC, Splashtop, Remote Desktop Connection (PBL-8584, PBL-8589, PBL-8591, PBL-8575)

Fixed issues:

• Main UI crash if registry key is not readable (PBL-8569)

A few examples:
View attachment 260120View attachment 260121

Good news!

 

[Lord Ami]

Release 18.1 beta 5 (4.60.2375):​

New features:

• Serbian language support added
• Dark mode support has been improved and extended. The following areas now support dark mode: tray icon, native dialogs (installer, uninstaller, restart prompt, support tool), scan report.
• A spinner has been added while the Edge WebView2 is loading (in other words, when user is logging in).

Known issues:

• Time lock screen is bright in a dark mode (PBL-8653)
• Windows 7, 8.1: a white square is shown when you log into a child's account (PBL-8639)
• Settings tab control size incorrect before elevation (PBL-8642)
• File explorer opens if browsers are not installed and you try to open the extension store (PBL-8682)
• In Dark Mode, text is not convenient to read at the About window and at the menu elements when hovered (PBL-8683, PBL-8680)

Fixed issues:

• Minor Dark mode-related fixes (PBL-8649, PBL-8652, PBL-8655, PBL-8665)
• The Add time window is still shown when you disable Time Limits (PBL-8603)
• Extension store is opened in default browser (PBL-8636)

 

[Nightwater]

Dark mode, wow! This time I need to install and see how it goes, is anyone using it on Windows 11?

And with the sale of Avira to Norton, does F-Secure continue to use Avira subscriptions?

 

[Szellem]

Release 18.1 beta 5 (4.60.2375):​

New features:

• Serbian language support added
• Dark mode support has been improved and extended. The following areas now support dark mode: tray icon, native dialogs (installer, uninstaller, restart prompt, support tool), scan report.
• A spinner has been added while the Edge WebView2 is loading (in other words, when user is logging in).

Known issues:

• Time lock screen is bright in a dark mode (PBL-8653)
• Windows 7, 8.1: a white square is shown when you log into a child's account (PBL-8639)
• Settings tab control size incorrect before elevation (PBL-8642)
• File explorer opens if browsers are not installed and you try to open the extension store (PBL-8682)
• In Dark Mode, text is not convenient to read at the About window and at the menu elements when hovered (PBL-8683, PBL-8680)

Fixed issues:

• Minor Dark mode-related fixes (PBL-8649, PBL-8652, PBL-8655, PBL-8665)
• The Add time window is still shown when you disable Time Limits (PBL-8603)
• Extension store is opened in default browser (PBL-8636)

I waiting for the final release of 18.1.

 

[Lord Ami]

Release 18.1 beta 6 (4.60.2521):​

New features:

• "Scan for viruses "Explorer context menu item has new icon and supports dark mode. The position has also moved a bit.

Known issues:

• Extensions are not installed from Settings if browser was installed without elevation (PBL-8687)
• "Scan for viruses" Explorer context menu command may be grayed out after upgrade, reboot will enable the command again (PBL-8705)
• "Scan for viruses" Explorer context menu is missing in Windows 11. It will be enabled in future beta version.

Fixed issues:

• More dark mode-related fixes (PBL-8602, PBL-8678, PBL-8679)
• fsdiag.zip is not removing from the desktop if its creation was cancelled (PBL-8685)
• Child content filtering rules are still enabled after switching to normal user (PBL-8677)
• Main UI freeze (PBL-8669, SAFE_BUG-03353)

New icon:

 

[Nightwater]

I'm using it here on Windows 11, excellent performance so far.

 

[Lord Ami]

Mine is having some issues.

I have TEMP folder with random downloaded files. 124 files in total, some folders. And it takes some 10s of seconds to open when FS Beta is ON.
Seems like it is scanning EXE files or something... and preventing the folder from opening while it's doing that (it just loads and loads...)

 

[amico81]

i can confirm this...100 videos in a folder ( file is .mp4) and it is loading slowly.
the same folder with windows defender and the files are loaded instantly
but the overall system performace is very fast with f-secure....apps start without delay

 

[Lord Ami]

i can confirm this...100 videos in a folder ( file is .mp4) and it is loading slowly.
the same folder with windows defender and the files are loaded instantly
but the overall system performace is very fast with f-secure....apps start without delay

Thanks for commenting!

I can say that I have noticed some hiccups when clicking program shortcuts in Start menu (using Startisback Start menu).
After clicking the icon computer "freezes" for some seconds and only then proceeds to open the program.
It seems to me that the app opening is delayed by DeepGuard or something else from FS... Really weird. And those are casual apps - Thunderbird, Teamspeak etc...

 

[Lord Ami]

Release 18.1 beta 7 (4.60.2627):​

New features:

• Per-browser missing extension user tasks. In other words, several "extension is disabled" notifications are shown if the extension is disabled in several browsers. This also now properly supports cases where you want to have extension in one browser but not another. (PBL-7842)
• Browsing & banking protection browser block pages support dark mode.

Known issues:

• "Scan for viruses" Explorer context menu is still missing in Windows 11. It will be enabled in future beta version.
• Win 7, 8.1: flyers are large and button order have been changed (PBL-8715)

Fixed issues:

• Even more dark mode fixes (PBL-8712, PBL-8713, PBL-8725)
• "Scan for viruses" Explorer context menu command may be grayed out after upgrade, reboot will enable the command again (PBL-8705)

 

[Lord Ami]

Release 18.1 beta 8 (4.60.2750):​

Known issues:

• Windows 11: Shell extension is missing after the reinstallation

Fixed issues:

• Context help page wrong in a couple of places in Main UI (PBL-8782)
• Windows 7, 8.1: spinner in a white square is shown momentarily during "Switch user" operation (PBL-8767)
• Crash: avdaemon!AvDaemonPlugin::~AvDaemonPlugin+0xde (PBL-8763)
• Again, more Dark mode fixes (PBL-8762, PBL-8750, PBL-8739, PBL-8737, PBL-8736, PBL-8734, PBL-8733, PBL-8732, PBL-8730, PBL-8729, PBL-8728, PBL-8727, PBL-8719, PBL-8713, PBL-8712)
• Browsing protecting illustration changed to be less scary (PBL-8756)
• Win 7, 8.1: flyers are large and button order has been changed (PBL-8715)
• Window 11: Shell extension is missing (PBL-8707)
• SAFE_BUG-03360: Cannot scroll main window with touch screen or touch pad (PBL-8701)
• Main UI: Subscription view text alignment problems (PBL-8691)
• Chrome and Edge extensions are not installed from Settings UI if browser was installed without elevation (PBL-8687)

 

[oldschool]

Browsing protecting illustration changed to be less scary