NEW version: Avast 17.5.2302

[Lord Ami]

Hi everyone,
new stable version 17.5.2302 has just been released.

What's new:

- New feature: Ransomware Shield (for Internet Security and Premier)
- New warning system on dashboard
- Warnings added to notification center
- Redesigned some popups
- Notification counter added to tray icon
- Fixed issues with public profile in Firewall

Forum topic with download links:
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=204588.msg1403817#msg1403817

 

[davetenay]

So no ransomware shield for the free version? This contradicts Avast's logic. They've always said that the protection modules in free and pro should be the same. Looks like they are changing their policy

 

[mekelek]

So no ransomware shield for the free version? This contradicts Avast's logic. They've always said that the protection modules in free and pro should be the same. Looks like they are changing their policy

since they got bought by AVG, ofcourse they're changing their policies.

 

[Orion]

Nothing really is changing....we are expecting too much

 

[wert33]

@mekelek avast has bought avg

 

[ZeroDay]

since they got bought by AVG, ofcourse they're changing their policies.

Didn't they buy AVG not the other way around?

 

[mekelek]

@mekelek Avast has bought AVG

Didn't they buy AVG not the other way around?

potato potato, sorry confused the 2 names.

 

[ispx]

avast bought avg :

Avast sees smooth acquisition of AVG, IPO seen later down the road | Daily Mail Online

 

[FrFc1908]

just another marketing strategy , to lure in more paying customers

 

[Lord Ami]

just another marketing strategy , to lure in more paying customers

While you're correct, if you compare free vs paid, there was no difference in protection until now. I personally find it great way to market paid versions (IS+) and why shouldn't they do so? Ransomware is really expensive type of malware.

 

[spaceoctopus]

One required change in Avast, is to remove the firewall. Seriously it's the most unstable firewall i've ever seen, a real pain.

 

[ispx]

i would not want a protection suite which comes with a warning :

Installation advice: This program may contain Potentially Unwanted software.

the purpose of protection is defeated if the protection suite contains a pua in itself.

nor would i be interested in any product of a vendor who tells me which browser to use :

i am paying avast to protect my computer & they should do it irrespective of which browser i use.

i do not think other security software vendors promote a particular browser like avast does. do they?

 

[Arequire]

Slight issue with SAP blocking some new files created by Avast during the update which stopped its service from running. Even after manually unblocking the files the UI wouldn't load so I reinstalled it. Besides that hiccup no problems so far. Glad to finally see there's a notification counter on the taskbar now too.

While I'd love if they made the ransomware shield available to their entire user base, I don't think Avast's really ever offered enough incentive to buy their paid-for products so I don't particularly mind Avast holding the ransomware shield back. (You can achieve the exact same folder protection for free using Secure Folders read-only option if you're so inclined.)

 

[ZeroDay]

potato potato, sorry confused the 2 names.

Ha ha, thought so. Sorry for being a dick and picking up on a typo lol.

 

[Alikhan]

One required change in Avast, is to remove the firewall. Seriously it's the most unstable firewall i've ever seen, a real pain.

What issues do you have the Firewall and why is it "unstable"? The Firewall DPC latency issue has been fixed for a few months now.

just another marketing strategy , to lure in more paying customers

There wasn't really anything in the paid versions of Avast to really convince a user to purchase. That's not to say that the free version does not have any ransomware protection since there is the Behaviour Shield/CyberCapture which can catch zero day variants.

The Ransomware Shield using the default smart mode is another layer which ensures the protected folders and sub-folders can not be changed (encrypted) or deleted unless they are by a trusted application. e.g Microsoft Word. Any untrusted applications will require user permission. By default, the Documents and Pictures folders are protected and the user has the choice to add more folders.

There's also a strict mode for the Ransomware Shield. That's just basically anything that changes or deletes files will require the user opinion.

I'd like to see how well the new Ransomware Shield is against ransomware assuming it can get past the File and Web Shield, CyberCapture and Behaviour Shield with cloud enabled.

Edit: Fixed typo.

 

[spaceoctopus]

@Alikhan
About a month ago there was an issue where Avast would block the internet access, which many users have experienced. On another occasion i had to restore my network drivers after Avast IS corrupted them. Sometimes the firewall just doesn't turn on and you need a computer restart (this is present for quite some time now). All these problems disappear when you uninstall or don't install the firewall. If you check their forum, you'll see a lot of issues with their firewall. There must be a problem somewhere. Perhaps the way things are implemented, but issues with the firewall are recurrent. Apart from that, Avast's products are just fine.

 

[Alikhan]

@spaceoctopus
Regarding the first issue where Avast would block the internet access was caused by the Web Shield.

I haven't seen any cases of Avast IS corrupting network drivers but there was a bug when the Firewall wouldn't turn when you booted up the computer. That didn't require a restart but rather a manual turn on via the UI. This has been fixed but sometimes during only the first restart after installing Avast, you may need to enable it manually just once. If it's still turned off after that, logs would be helpful.

I've been using Avast Firewall for a number of years now and haven't had any issues.

 

[imsoadude]

Its a shame the ransomware shield isn't included in the free version, I guess I will continue to keep AppCheck free along side Avast

 

[BearHug]

I'm currently using Avast Premier and Kaspersky Anti Ransomware! I'm thinking of removing KAR before updating to new version as it has a Ransomware Shield too. Is it a good Idea?

 

[WolfensteinXeen]

The fact that the ransomeware protection is not included in the free version is a shame, but still can be understand for marketing strategies. I would actually prefer Avast to be more straightforward this way: good protection on Free and even a better one with Pro, Internet Security or Premier.

My problem with Avast is their business practices. They don't have a multidevice protection offer, and even if you buy Avast Premier, which is their best suite, they're still gonna try to sell you their VPN, password manager or system cleaner which are included in some other suites.

Besides that, after testing their latest version, i must admit i'm impressed with Avast. Their UI is simple yet complete, it's light on resources and their latest detection results are impressive.