[Contest] avast! Internet Security

TipRadar | Jul 19, 2012 | Comments 348

Review1:

I am very pleased to present to your attention one of the truly best antivirus solutions written by talented programmers from Czech Republic – avast! Internet Security version 7.0.1426.
I’m not going to elaborate on the program installation. I note only that you have a choice of installation browser Google Chrome.
AIS provides you with full protection against various viruses, spyware, hacker attacks, phishing scams and spam. The program interface is very convenient, and easy to use.

All Features:

Blocks hacker attacks
Blocks viruses, spyware, and other types of malware
Stops annoying SPAM and phishing scams
Streams virus database updates in real-time
Secures your identity and other personal data
Warns of a file’s reputation before you open it
Runs risky programs virtually (outside your PC)
Can allow help from a ‘geek’ friend
Lets you surf the web virtually (outside your PC)
Provides secure online shopping and banking
All technology:
Sandbox
SafeZone
Remote desktop
Streaming updates
Antispam
Firewall
FileRep & WebRep
Hybrid cloud/non-cloud technology
SelectionAntivirus & anti-spyware engine
Real-time shields

avast! Internet Security has 8 major protection modules (Real Time Schields).

Let’s consider in more detail these Real Time Schields.

Shields in real time is the most important program elements, which continuously protect your PC from virus attack. They monitor all your computer’s activity, checking all programs and files in real-time-i.e. at startup programs and opening or closing a file.

File System Shield – checks for all programs at the time of their launch, and all files when opening or closing, thus preventing the potential damage to your computer and data.

Mail Shield – scans incoming and outgoing emails, not allowing you to receive and send messages that may contain viruses.

Web Shield – protects your computer from viruses when using the Internet (browsing websites, downloading files, etc), and can also block access to certain Web pages. When you download a file from the Internet, virus, download will stop.

An infection of your computer will be prevented.

P2P Shield – checks files downloaded through common peer-to-peer programs (programs for file sharing). If you are not using P2P, you can disable it

IM Shield – checks files downloaded programs for instant messaging via the Internet (ICQ, Skype etc.).

Network Shield – monitors all network activity and blocks any detected threats on your network. This screen also blocks access to known malicious Web sites.

Script Shield – keeps track of all the scripts that run on a computer that is running remotely, for example, when you visit Web sites and locally, when you open files on the computer.

Behavior Shield – tracks all the activity on your computer by detecting and blocking any non-standard actions that may indicate the presence of malware. This screen continuously monitors the input channels on your computer, using special sensors to detect any suspicious activity.

Each module protection can be easily customized (Start, Stop, Expert Setting)

Avast Cloud Service – Use of cloud services , or cloud-based services, i.e. Services avast distributed network that gives you access to the benefits provided by a worldwide network of avast! CommunityIQ members, including information about possible suspicious files and to the ability to detect and neutralize new sources of threat almost immediately after their appearance.

Streaming update in real time, Enabling streaming update, you’ll get a new virus definitions, in real time, without waiting for the next scheduled update. Because your anti-virus database is updated continuously, this will give you even greater protection from the latest threats.

Reputation service – if the reputation service is enabled this option, avast! be able to verify whether the file is safe before you open it, the file will be checked against a database of known files. Security file in this case is determined by how many other users have opened this file and how long ago it was created.

Virtualization processes (Sandbox)

Sandbox-avast! (Sandbox) allows you to log into websites or run other applications in a fully secure environment. This is especially useful when you visit (both accidental and deliberate) Web sites, representing a high risk: the browser will be placed in a “sandbox” that will prevent any damage to your computer.

Another very powerful feature in avast! Internet Security 7 – Virtualization processes (Safe Zone). Avast! safeZone is an additional security feature that allows you to view a Web page from a confidential, secure “Cabinet”, unseen from the rest of the system. If you are doing online banking, shopping or other activities, including the transfer of sensitive data, you can be assured that your personal data will not be stolen or spyware program, reading information from the keyboard.

Another feature that will surely love the advanced users-command-line scanner.

Command line scanner allows you to manually run scan your computer without opening the interface of avast! -including and prior to the launch of the OS.

Scan is run from a command prompt using various switches and parameters.

AIS has a very powerful and easily customizable Firewall, that provides reliable protection on the Internet. Firewall monitors all communication between your computer and the outside world and blocks unauthorized actions, guided by the rules of “allow” and “Deny”. Firewall prevents leakage of sensitive data from your computer and blocks attempted hacking your system

My most favorite and frequently used functions: Firewall, Sandbox, SafeZone, Remote Assistance (Very conveniently, safely.)

and Boot-time Scan

This type of scan is a very reliable and efficient. AIS scanner has direct access to all the files before loading the operating system.

Summary:

avast! Internet Security this is a powerful and flexible AV solution does not require high system resources. In addition AIS does not install any additional services and absolutely does not slow down the operating system.

avast! Internet Security is a very serious, smart, flexible, powerful and very reliable AV software written by really talented programmers.

System requirements

OS Supported

Windows 7 (any Edition, 32-bit or 64-bit)

Windows Vista (any Edition excl. Starter Edition, 32-bit or 64-bit)

Windows XP Service Pack 2 or higher (any Edition, 32-bit or 64-bit)

Minimum Hardware Requirements

Pentium 3 Processor

256 MB RAM

380 MB of free hard disk space

Reviewer: comphelp

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Review 2:

Most of the people these days are aware of what computers are, almost all of them use computers in daily life or used them once in life. Computers are now part of our life. As we need security in our life, computers also need good security solution for working fine and efficiently. Good news is there are more than enough security software available these days. From all of the security software’s available till present date, antivirus is one of the most important. Almost every modern computer has one installed for preventing malicious attacks of malwares (Malware stands for malicious software). An antivirus program is used to prevent, detect and remove Malwares such as Viruses, adware, backdoors, malicious BHO’s (Browser Helper Object), Dialers, fraudtools, Hijackers, Keylogger, malicious LSPs (Layered Service Providers), rootkits, spyware, Trojan horses and worms. There are several good antivirus programs out there both free and commercial. But it is important to choose an all rounder, the one which give protection from all aspects. However, there is no security solution till date which gives full protection, there are few which give maximise protection. Today i am going to talk about one security solution which is one of those few security solutions which gives maximum protection. I am talking about Avast! Internet Security.

Avast is one of the leading antivirus vendor. It has both free and commercial antivirus. Free Antivirus is for home use with basic functions, which provides good security to home users. For extended security, it has two solutions Avast Pro and Avast IS. Today we are talking about Avast Internet security which is packed with best of security features. Installation of Avast IS is very easy and user can choose from Express and custom installations. Express installation is for novice/average users and has predefined settings for best security for maximum users needs and Custom installation is for advance users and user can set security settings according to their preferences.

Now let’s talk about its GUI (Graphical User Interface):
Its GUI is very user friendly, attractive and packed with lots of customizable options. In its GUI there is a menu on the left side which has seven tabs with different set of options. Below I’ll try to explain every option in the tabs in detail.

Summary: This is the first tab in the menu and it has three options. Below are some details of these options.
•Current Status: Here user can find current details of this program. These details include real-time shields status, firewall Status, Definitions auto update status, Virus definition version, Program version, and Expiration date. Including these it also shows if the program is connected with any Anast! Account and it shows Avast! News (requires internet connection).

•Cloud Services: This is the new feature in avast. This helps avast in staying up to date against the latest threats and also helps avast in taking intelligent decisions. Avast exchange data with reputed cloud services and contributes towards making file reputation database which ultimately helps avast in increasing the detection rate. User can disable/enable this option anytime.
•Statistics: here user can check statistics for all the components of program (components like – File system shield, mail shield, web shield, P2P shield, IM shield, network shield, script shield, behaviour shield, antispam and firewall) in a graphical view. User has the option to view statistics from today to last year. User can also check the complete security report for the last 30 days.

Scan Computer: This is the second tab on the left side menu and it deals with the scanning of system and scanning logs. It also has three options, I’ll explain them one by one below.

•Scan now: User can select this option to access the predefined scanning options of avast. It has four types of scans predefined from the installation (Quick scan, Full system scan, removable media scan, and select folder to scan). User can select Quick scan for scanning most important part of system, it scan system drive, rootkits and auto-start programs. User can also scan PUP(potential unwanted programs) by turning its scan on. User can select Full system scan for scanning full system, it scan all harddisks, rootkits, autostart programs and moduals loaded in memory. User has option to on/off PUP scan. User can select Removable media scan for scanning all the removable media (pendrives, cd’s, dvd’s, etc) attached to the computer. User can use select folder to scan for performing a full scan of desired folder, user has to select a folder before starting this scan. Including these scans user can create custom scans, for that user has to set scan parameters, sensitivity, actions, performance, exclusions, scheduling and name for report files of the custom scan.

•Boot time scan: The boot time scan is the most powerful scan of the avast antivirus. On scheduling a boot time scan, it starts on next boot of system before any windows component load in the memory and hence it has ability to clean even deepest infection. User can set its heuristics sensitivity, can add additional areas for scanning, can on/off scan for PUP.
•Scan Logs: Here user can access old scan logs. User can delete logs as per preference. On selecting any log it shows scan details like run time in hours, tested files, tested folders, amount of data tested in GB and number of infected files found. User can view results and can apply actions to infected files.

Real Time Shields: This is the third tab in the menu and it shows status and statistics of the real time shields to the user. Avast IS has eight real time shields, user can find details of each under this tab. I’ll explain every option in this tab below.

•Protection Status: User can select this option to check status of all the shields of avast IS. User can directly access any shield by just clicking on shields icon.
•File System Shield: User can stop/start file system shield of avast IS by accessing this option. The file System shield is the main component of the real time scanner of avast IS because it scans and monitors all of the files and programs present on the computer. It shows shield traffic in a graphical view. User can also set expert settings as per needs. Expert settings like Scan when executing, scan when opening, scan when writing, scan when attaching, autosandbox, exclusions, advanced, actions, packers, sensitivity and report file name. User can also check shield log.
•Mail shield: User can stop/start Mail shield of avst IS by accessing this option. The mail shield scans and monitors all the email traffic before they reach computer and hence reduce the chances of doing any harm drastically. It shows shield traffic in a graphical view. User can also set expert settings as per needs. Expert settings like Mail settings, behaviour, mail heuristics, SSL accounts, Actions, packers, sensitivity and report file name. User can also check shield log.
•Web shield: User can stop/start web shield of avast IS by accessing this option. The Web Shield monitor and filter all the dangerous threats while user surf online and hence reduce risk of infection. It shows shield traffic in a graphical view. User can also set expert settings as per needs. Expert settings like Main settings, web scanning, exclusions, actions, packers, sensitivity and report file name. User can also check shield log.
•P2P Shield: User can stop/start P2P shield of avast IS by accessing this option. The P2P shield monitor and filter all suspicious connections and downloads from most of the P2P (peer to peer) applications and hence help in preventing potential infections. It shows shield traffic in a graphical view. User can also set expert settings as per needs. Expert settings like Programs, exclusions, actions, packers, sensitivity and report file name. User can also check shield log.
•IM Shield: User can stop/start IM Shield of avast IS by accessing this option. The IM Shield monitors and filters all connections and downloads from instant messaging applications which help in reducing chances of infection. It shows shield traffic in a graphical view. User can also set expert settings as per needs. Expert settings like Programs, exclusions, actions, packers, sensitivity and report file name. User can also check shield log.
•Network Shield: User can stop/start Network Shield of avast IS by accessing this option. The Network Shield monitors and filters any suspicious network activity. It also blocks access to know malicious sites which helps in reducing infection risks. It shows shield traffic in a graphical view. This shield has no expert settings. User can also check the shield logs.
•Script Shield: User can stop/start Script Shield of avast IS by accessing this option. The Script Shield monitors and filters scripts running on system which reduces the chances of infection. It shows shield traffic in a graphical view. User can also set expert settings as per needs. Expert settings like Main settings, exclusions and report file name. User can also check the shield logs.
•Behavior Shield: User can stop/start behaviour shield of avast IS by accessing this option. The Behavior Shield monitors and filters suspicious behaviour of system, it also alert user if any suspicious behavior is detected. It shows shield traffic in a graphical view. User can also set expert settings as per needs. Expert settings like Main settings and Trusted processes.

Firewall: This is the fourth tab on the menu and it deals with network access and application rules. It has five options I’ll explain them below:
•Firewall Settings: User can stop/start firewall settings of avast IS by accessing this option. Here user can set one of the basic parameter of avast firewall from the three given settings i.e. Home/low risk zone, Work/medium risk zone and Public/high risk zone. It shows shield traffic in a graphical view. User can also set expert settings as per needs. Expert settings like Policies, Network profiles and friends (in friends user can define safe ip ranges).
•Network Connections: Here user can find details (like resolve name, connection, remote port, protocol, local address, local port, state, speed in, bytes in, speed out, bytes out, full path of the connected application, detailed view, etc) of active connections.
•Application Rules: Here user can set the trust and firewall rules for each application individually. User can block all connections to any application, including this user have five more options to set for any application. These rules includes Friends out, Friends in/out, Internet out, Friends in and Internet out, and all connections. User can create new group and new application rules.
•Network Utilities: This is one of my favourite tools in Avast IS. User can get details of IP address or domain name. User can also trace the route of network packets over the world map. User also has the option to fix network stack only recommend for users having difficulties accessing the network.
•Firewall Logs: Here user can view the details of Avast IS firewall in logs. User has the option to view logs for connections and activity. User can also clear logs.

Additional Protection: This is the fifth tab in the menu and it has options for all the additional protections avast IS gives to its users. I’ll explain them below.
•Anti Spam: This module of Avast IS monitor and filter all the junk emails. User can stop/start anytime and user can also control sensitivity of this module. It shows shield traffic in a graphical view. User can also set expert settings as per needs. Expert settings like Main settings, whitelist and blacklist.
•Sandbox: User can Run any application in virtualized and isolated environment by using this module of avast IS. User can run any process in virtualized mode and can also terminate any and all of them. User can also set expert settings for this module. Expert settings like Virtualization parameters, sandbox storage, web browsers settings, virtualized processes, privacy, exclusions, internet access, report file name and type, and safe zone resetting.
•Auto Sandbox: When Avast IS find anything suspicious in a program it automatically run it in sandbox for preventing any potential damage. User can customise the settings of auto sandbox by accessing this module under additional protection tab.
•SafeZone: Safezone is a virtual desktop and user can switch between it and the operating system’s desktop as many times as they want. User can use it for making any transactions online or for any other sensitive purpose. By using it user can do any sensitive task without being monitored by any spyware or logger.
•Browser Protection: User can run any of the three browsers (Internet explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome) sandboxed by selecting it in this module. User can also set browser plugins settings by accessing expert settings of this module.
•Remote Assistance: This is one of the most useful feature of avast IS. User can connect and share desktops with each other and with technical staff by using this module. User can allow remote control to third party for remote assistance or can control remote computer for giving assistance.
•Site Blocking: User can block/unblock any website/url by using this module of Avast IS.

Maintenance: This is the sixth tab in the menu and it has five options. I’ll explain them below.
•Update: While Avast IS is pre configured to auto update in every few hours as new virus definitions are released on hourly basis, but user can also update its virus definition manually by accessing this option. User also has the option to update the program version.
•Subscription: Here user can check the subscription status. User can get the details like Program Licensed to, customer number, subscription valid till and user can also see the number of days left to this subscription. User also has the option to insert the licence file and/or activation code.
•Virus Chest: Avast IS isolate every suspicious and infected file into a container for preventing any potential harm to the system, the container is known as Virus Chest. User can find every detected file here with details like name, original location, last changed, transfer time, virus (detected), any additional comment, and submit time (if submitted in avast virus testing lab).
•Support: User can find all the additional information by accessing this option. User can read FAQs, can visit the official avast community, can submit a support ticket to Avast tech support team, can download user manuals, can get help via remote assistance and cal also access Program help. Including all this user can also generate a support package which contains information like basic info, logs files, minidumps, full dums and can send it to support engineers via FTP. User has the choice to exclude any of the info.
•About Avast: Here user can check the Program version, Definition version, number of definitions and copyright info. User can also access EULA (End User License Agreement) by accessing this option.

Market: This is the last tab in the menu and it only has one option. I’ll explain it below.
•Avast! Market: User can get details of various products and services of avast by accessing this option (required Internet connection).

At the bottom of that menu user can find a green button which is a facebook like button, user can hit it (requires a internet connection) to like avast’s facebook page and support them.

Avast IS also has three buttons on the top right corner of its GUI. I’ll explain them below.
•Support: This the shortcut to the support option under Maintenance tab of menu.
•Settings: This is the setting tab of avast IS and user can customize Avast IS by accessing this option. User can adjust basic settings, settings for updates, cloud service settings, can change settings for popups (Avast IS has four popups of different colours. Blue/ info popups which shows information about avast activity, Green/ Update popups which shows information about updates, Yellow/ warning popups which shows information about important events which requires user’s attention and Red/ alert popups which shows information about malware related problems), For Virus chest, virus alert, exclusions, password (User can protect avast with password for preventing any changes without users intentions), Silent/Gaming Mode (User can instruct avast to not sow any popups, messages and warnings if a full screen application (like a game power point presentation, etc) is running), Status bar, languages, sounds, account, community, Maintenance and for troubleshooting.

•Buy Now: This button only shows if program is not registered/ licensed. User can buy a licence for program by clicking on this link (requires internet connection).

Conclusion: After going through all the options/settings of Avast IS, I can say Avast Internet Security is a powerful Internet security suit packed with very advance features. It is fully customizable too and GUI of avast is very user friendly and anyone can use it didn’t matter if user is a novice or an expert. Avast IS is good at detection too which is what anti viruses used for. It don’t have some features like parental control like some other competitive antivirus products but it is more than good in what antivirus programs are used for. It is free for first 30 days try and anyone can experience it for that limit. I am sure after trying if everyone will convinced for buying it. Thanks for reading.

Reviewer: sahilwaste

GIVEAWAY:

In cooperation with avast! (sponsor of this giveaway), we can offer 10 licenses of avast! Internet Security

To get the chance to win:

1 – subscribe to our email Feeds (remember to check your inbox for the activation link)

2 – submit a comment to this post with a valid email address (will be used to send the license)

3 – (optional but very appreciated) follow us on twitter, facebook or Google Plus

[Contest] avast! Internet Security

Review1:

Reviewer: comphelp

Review 2:

Reviewer: sahilwaste

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