NEW version: Avast 17.5.2302

[Lord Ami]

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.

Yes, that's true. It can be turned off via Settings, but it's simply idiotic in my eyes (why has it not been disabled by default). If I pay for product, I don't want to get advertisements. Still I know why they are there - average Joe will happily click and agree with what's offered (from time to time). So it's direct selling strategy which must be working.

 

[Prayag]

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?

Qihoo recommends opera to be installed alongside it.

 

[ispx]

Qihoo recommends opera to be installed alongside it.

qihoo, who? oh you mean the chinese company which has absolutely no regards for any privacy laws.

are you aware that qihoo has bought opera?

source : Opera browser sold to a Chinese consortium for $600 million

avast does not own chrome nor is it affiliated to chrome in any manner whatsoever. do i need to say more?

are you also aware of the amount of credibility & users that opera has lost ever since it was acquired by qihoo?

source : Opera Browser still safe after being bought out by Qihoo 360 and other chinese companies | Norton Community

 

[Prayag]

qihoo, who? oh you mean the chinese company which has absolutely no regards for any privacy laws.

are you aware that qihoo has bought opera?

source : Opera browser sold to a Chinese consortium for $600 million

Avast does not own chrome nor is it affiliated to chrome in any manner whatsoever. do i need to say more?

are you also aware of the amount of credibility & users that opera has lost ever since it was acquired by qihoo?

source : Opera Browser still safe after being bought out by Qihoo 360 and other chinese companies | Norton Community

I knew this fact but I just mean to say that it is also come with bundled softwares.

 

[ispx]

I knew this fact but I just mean to say that it is also come with bundled softwares.

for starters if you already knew this then your post about qihoo & opera was not needed.

did you see the image attached with my post? please do not divert this with bundled software etc.

Qihoo recommends opera to be installed alongside it

but of course they will, they paid for the opera browser & they have all right to promote the software they own.

avast on the other hand has nothing, i repeat nothing to do with chrome / google.

i know what bundled software is & that is not what i mentioned. stay on topic.

avast actually has it on their homepage that they want avast subscribers to use chrome.

avast is blatantly promoting chrome which is a whole different ball game & bundled software is way out of this league.

check this out : Product bundling - Wikipedia

 

[Arequire]

for starters if you already knew this then your post about qihoo & opera was not needed.

did you see the image attached with my post? please do not divert this with bundled software etc.



but of course they will, they paid for the opera browser & they have all right to promote the software they own.

Avast on the other hand has nothing, i repeat nothing to do with chrome / google.

i know what bundled software is & that is not what i mentioned. stay on topic.

Avast actually has it on their homepage that they want Avast subscribers to use chrome.

Avast is blatantly promoting chrome which is a whole different ball game & bundled software is way out of this league.

check this out : Product bundling - Wikipedia

It used to be a lot worse:
Has the antivirus industry gone mad?

 

[mekelek]

It used to be a lot worse:
Has the antivirus industry gone mad?

still having hilarious things, looking at you Avira free.

 

[ispx]

@Arequire,

nice read, thank you.

what hit me the hardest in that article is : " When the product is free the real product is YOU "

in all fairness, i can understand avg & panda promoting their own software, kind of like cross selling.

but zone alarm installing the ask toolbar

getting ask / babylon toolbar in your computer was like getting bubble gum stuck in your hair

 

[Arequire]

When the product is free the real product is YOU

Yep. AV companies may care about the security of their users but their existence depends on generating revenue, even if that means bundling PUPs or amassing and selling "non-personal" data to third parties.

 

[Orion]

I think its great idea to keep ransomware shield in paid versions it gives the user a reason to pay for something IMO .Before I don't even understand why people would even buy it since they bought safe banking to avast free as well!

 

[ispx]

the only reason i would move from avast free to avast paid is to get rid of the damn nags to buy an upgrade or buy an extra feature.

 

[_CyberGhosT_]

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

Thats the other way round brother, Avast purchased AVG
For 1.3 billion I believe

 

[WolfensteinXeen]

@Arequire,

nice read, thank you.

what hit me the hardest in that article is : " When the product is free the real product is YOU "

in all fairness, i can understand AVG & panda promoting their own software, kind of like cross selling.

but zone alarm installing the ask toolbar

getting ask / babylon toolbar in your computer was like getting bubble gum stuck in your hair

Man i didn't knew that ZoneAlarm installed the Ask toolbar. I consider any software that has this crap bundled as a PUP.

Thanks for the info

 

[mamamia]

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

What's new:
- New feature: Ransomware Shield (for Internet Security and Premier)

Avast Free without Ransomware Shield.... very dangerous.

 

[WolfensteinXeen]

Avast Free without Ransomware Shield.... very dangerous.

Why very dangerous ? It's not like Avast removed a feature from the free version. They added a Ransomware Shield to the paid versions, free users will still benefit from the same level protection as they have before.

Also i wouldn't consider using a computer without an anti-ransomeware as "very dangerous".

 

[Orion]

Why very dangerous ? It's not like Avast removed a feature from the free version. They added a Ransomware Shield to the paid versions, free users will still benefit from the same level protection as they have before.

Also i wouldn't consider using a computer without an anti-ransomeware as "very dangerous".

So this was being discussed in a recent talk where i was involved too with avast developers over zoom app.So let me clarify it again,This shield is just a addtional layer for your files it doesn't mean avast free doesn't protect you against ransomware.

The name of this shield is what is making the confusions so we have suggested renaming the shield to avoid such confusions.

 

[davetenay]

Avast free protects well against ransomwares except when you find very fast ones like Jaff. Until behaviour shield kicks in most of your docs and pics are encrypted.

 

[Atlas147]

Not having an anti ransomware module doesn't mean the free users are less protected, it's like the paid versions of avast having a firewall, it has been like this for a long time.

There are plenty of free anti ransomware protection out there that should be just as effective as avast's ones (which honestly aren't very good at protecting against all ransomware)

Best way to keep safe is still to backup your data in case.

 

[WolfensteinXeen]

So this was being discussed in a recent talk where i was involved too with avast developers over zoom app.So let me clarify it again,This shield is just a addtional layer for your files it doesn't mean avast free doesn't protect you against ransomware.

The name of this shield is what is making the confusions so we have suggested renaming the shield to avoid such confusions.

I'm not really sure there was anything to clarify. If you read my post I've pretty much sum it up. Also it is my knowledge that you don't necessarily need an anti-ransomware to protect your from ransomeware as it can be blocked by file signature, BB or other components of an AV.

Thanks for the info anyway

 

[WolfensteinXeen]

Not having an anti ransomware module doesn't mean the free users are less protected, it's like the paid versions of avast having a firewall, it has been like this for a long time.

There are plenty of free anti ransomware protection out there that should be just as effective as avast's ones (which honestly aren't very good at protecting against all ransomware)

Best way to keep safe is still to backup your data in case.

Yep totally agree with you. Nothing beats a backup