AVG (software)

Infobox software
name = AVG Internet Security



caption = AVG Internet Security, version 8 under Windows Vista
developer = AVG Technologies, s.r.o.
latest_release_version = 8.0.173
latest_release_date = release date|2008|9|29
operating_system = Microsoft Windows, Linux, FreeBSD
genre = Antivirus, Malware removal, Internet Security
license = Proprietary (freeware and commercial)
website = [http://www.avg.com/ www.avg.com]

AVG is an umbrella term for a range of antivirus and internet security software for the Microsoft Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD computing platforms, developed by AVG Technologies.

AVG Anti-Virus & Internet Security Protection

History

The brand name for AVG Technologies' Security Software is AVG, which comes from their first product, Anti-Virus Guard. [ cite web | title = AVG Technologies Celebrates 15 Years of Internet Security Success | url = http://www.avg.com/40965 ] AVG Technologies is a privately held Czech company formed in 1991 by Jan Gritzbach and Tomas Hofer. In early September 2005, a large stake in the company was bought by Intel Corporation. [ [http://www.avg.com/314 Intel buys part of AVG Technologies] ] On April 19, 2006, ewido Networks became a part of the AVG Technologies group. [ [http://www.avg.co.uk/30868 AVG Technologies announces release of ewido Anti-Spyware] ]

On November 6, 2006, Microsoft announced that AVG Security products would be available directly from the Windows Security Center in Windows Vista. [ [http://www.avg.co.uk/39275 Microsoft incorporates AVG into the Vista Security Center] ] Since June 7, 2006, the AVG software has also been used as an optional component of GFI Mail Security, produced by GFI Software. [ [http://kbase.gfi.com/showarticle.asp?id=KBID002652 GFI Mail Security support for a new anti-virus engine - Grisoft AVG] ] On December 5, 2007, AVG Technologies announced the acquisition of [http://www.explabs.com/ Exploit Prevention Labs] , developer of the [http://www.avg.com/avg-security-software-components#linkscanner LinkScanner] safe surfing technology. [ [http://www.avg.com/80935 AVG Acquires Exploit Prevention Labs, Developer of LinkScanner Safe Surfing Technology] ] On February 8, 2008, Grisoft announced that they would change the company name from Grisoft to AVG Technologies. This change was made to increase the effectiveness of their marketing activities.

Versions for Windows clients

AVG Technologies provides a number of products from the AVG range, suitable for Windows 2000 onwards. In addition to this, AVG Technologies also provides Linux and FreeBSD versions of the software. AVG Anti-Virus is available in both a free and commercial editions. As of AVG 8.0, the commercial edition AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 product includes the AVG Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, LinkScanner, Anti-Rootkit, Web Shield and Security Toolbar protection technologies. AVG Anti-Virus plus Firewall 8.0 adds integrated firewall protection.

AVG Internet Security 8.0 is a full suite solution which brings together the AVG Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, LinkScanner, Anti-Rootkit, Web Shield, Security Toolbar, Firewall, Anti-Spam and System Tools protection technologies.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 includes the AVG Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware protection, plus the AVG Search-Shield component of the patent pending LinkScanner technology.

All versions of the AVG products are compatible with the 64-bit edition of Windows. All editions run on Windows Vista. All commercial versions of the AVG software are available on a trial basis. Each trial allows all users (including businesses and institutions) a 30-day trial period. After this time a fee is required, which yields a key that unlocks the program for continued use.

Versions for servers

AVG Technologies also sells AVG antivirus and Internet security solutions for web/file servers or email servers running either Linux, FreeBSD or Windows.

AVG Internet Security Network Edition 8.0 provides centrally controlled comprehensive protection for workstations and file servers. AVG Internet Security SBS Edition 8.0 adds e-mail server and Microsoft SharePoint server protection.

AVG Anti-Virus Network Edition 8.0 provides centrally controlled Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware protection for workstations and file servers. AVG Anti-Virus SBS Edition 8.0 adds e-mail server and Microsoft SharePoint server protection.

AVG File Server Edition 8.0 provides Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware protection for file servers.

AVG E-mail Server Edition provides Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware protection for most popular e-mail servers.

AVG for Linux/FreeBSD

With Version 7.5, AVG Technologies is providing a solution for FreeBSD for the first time. AVG Technologies has incorporated spam detection in addition to virus detection for Linux/FreeBSD software.

Features

AVG features most of the common functions available in modern antivirus and Internet security programs, including periodic scans, scans of sent and received emails (including adding footers to the emails indicating this), the ability to "heal" some virus-infected files, and a "virus vault" in which infected files are held.

LinkScanner

The patent pending LinkScanner technology acquired from Exploit Prevention Labs and built into all AVG 8.0 products provides real-time protection against exploits and drive-by downloads. LinkScanner includes: Search-Shield - a safe search component that places safety ratings next to each link in Google, Yahoo! and MSN search results; plus Active Surf-Shield - a safe surf component that scans the contents of a web site in real-time to ensure it's safe being opened. [ [http://www.avg.com/faq.num-1094 AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security - FAQ ] ]

LinkScanner concerns

When AVG 8.0 was first released, its LinkScanner feature was shown to cause an up to tenfold increase in traffic on web sites that appear high in search engine results pages. Since LinkScanner disguises the scans as coming from an Internet Explorer 6 browser when it prescans each site listed in the results, web site usage logs showed incorrect and overinflated site visitor statistics. The prescanning of every link also caused web sites to transfer more data than usual, resulting in higher bandwidth usage for web site operators and slow performance for users. [ cite web | title = AVG Disguises Fake Traffic As IE6 | url = http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/26/avg_disguises_fake_traffic_as_ie6/ ] AVG initially said site administrators would be able to filter the LinkScanner traffic out of their site statistics, leaving the problem of excess bandwidth usage still to be solved. [ cite web | title= AVG update disguises LinkScanner traffic as IE6 | url= http://www.techspot.com/news/30641-avg-update-disguises-linkscanner-traffic-as-ie6.html ] Pay-per-click advertising was not affected by the increase in traffic. [ cite web | title= LinkScanner could be behind surge in web traffic | url= http://www.virusbtn.com/news/2008/06_20a.xml ]

In response to complaints, AVG announced that as of 2008-07-09 "Search-Shield will no longer scan each search result online for new exploits, which was causing the spikes that webmasters addressed with us", [ cite web | title= AVG Responds to Fake Traffic Spikes | url= http://networkinstruments.wordpress.com/2008/07/05/avg-responds-to-fake-traffic-spikes/ ] releasing a new build on that date that applies a local blacklist, then prefetches and scans only those links clicked on by the user. [ cite web | title= Grisoft modifies its free AVG product after complaints | url= http://news.cnet.com/8301-10789_3-9986453-57.html ]

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

According to AVG Technologies, over 70 million users have AVG Anti-Virus protection, including users of the Free Edition. On April 24, 2008, AVG released AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0. Along with a more colorful interface, the new program added some new features - a combined Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware protection engine, LinkScanner Search-Shield safe search protection, plus the AVG Security Toolbar - which were previously only available in AVG commercial versions.

There are some limitations with AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 compared to the commercial versions of AVG products. These limitations include:
* Less protection - AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 provides only base level protection against viruses, spyware and safe searching. It does not provide safe surfing (drive-by download protection) nor protection from crackers, keyloggers, spam, phishing attacks and malicious file downloads that can come through instant messaging and attachments from seemingly friendly sources. This protection is only available in the commercial versions of AVG products.
* Slower updates - AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 receives updates via a lower priority service. Priority updating via high-speed servers is only available for the commercial versions of AVG products.
* No telephone or e-mail technical support - There is no telephone or e-mail technical support provided by AVG for users of AVG Free Edition products anywhere in the world. AVG Free Edition users have access to support via the self-help [http://freeforum.avg.com/ AVG Free Forum] .
* No customisation - Scheduling options in AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 are very limited (only one scheduled update per day, one scheduled scan per day etc.). The AVG Resident Shield configuration is limited with no exclusion settings. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition does not offer advanced testing options, password-protected archives reporting, adjustment of scan process priority and many other features.
* No server support - AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 cannot be installed on server operating systems (such as Windows Server 2003), nor can it be used for the scanning of network drives.

AVG Free Edition was once responsible for popup ads advertising the non-free versions of AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 and AVG Internet Security 8.0, which claim to provide more comprehensive levels of protection. [ cite web | title = Avg 7.5 Constant Pop Up Ad Window | url = http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic144931.html#entry814134 ] [ cite web | title = AVG pro 7.5 annoying pop-up till Decenber? | url = http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20400528-AVG-pro-75-annoying-popup-till-Decenber ] Current free versions display only in-program banner ads for the full edition, not popups.

Resource requirements

One feature of AVG is its conservative resource requirements. The AVG Anti-Virus Professional Edition requires 16 MB of RAM and 20 MB of space on the hard drive. AVG Internet Security, however, requires 256 MB of RAM. [ [http://www.avg.com/product-avg-internet-security AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security - AVG Internet Security ] ] The comparatively high use of paged physical RAM has led to crashes with some software, such as the Half Life 2 series. [ [http://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=5034-EIPV-6426 Games freeze or crash with looping sounds (paged pool memory issues) - Crashes and Errors - Knowledge Base - Steam Support ] ]

AVG Anti-Spyware

On April 19, 2006, it was [http://www.ewido.net/en/ announced] that AVG Technologies had acquired the German Anti-Malware company ewido Networks. ewido Anti-Spyware was later renamed to AVG Anti-Spyware Professional Edition. A freeware version, AVG Anti-Spyware Free Edition, is available for private non-commercial use only and with lower speed updates.As of AVG 8.0, AVG Anti-Spyware is integrated into AVG Anti-Virus and is no longer available as a standalone product.

AVG Anti-Rootkit

AVG also had a free Anti-rootkit application, AVG Anti-Rootkit 7.5, but it was stopped as of late 2006. Updates are now no longer available.In the new AVG 8.0, anti-rootkit scanning is built in to AVG Anti-Virus and is no longer available standalone.

AVGADMIN

AVGADMIN is a remote administration tool, which allows the software to be managed centrally on networks.

Reception

* AVG antivirus was certified by ICSA Labs. [ [http://www.icsalabs.com/icsa/product.php?tid=dfgdf$gdhkkjk-kkkk /ICSALabs/Antivirus/Certified Products ] ]
* It has been tested 43 times, from February 1998 through April 2008, by Virus Bulletin and has failed 22 times and passed 21 times. During the period from June 2003 to April 2008, it was tested 23 times; passing 20 times and failing 3 times. [ [http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/results?vendor=VE10 Virus Bulletin : Independent Malware Advice ] ]
* At CNET.com AVG 8.0 received a review of 7.0/10 from CNet editors, and a review of 2.5/10 from consumers. [ [http://reviews.cnet.com/internet-security-and-firewall/avg-antivirus-8/4505-3667_7-32887573.html?tag=prod.txt.2 AVG 8.0 - CNET Reviews ] ]
* At PCWorld.com AVG 7.5 received 75/100. [ [http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130911/article.html PC World - AVG 7.5 Anti-Virus Professional Review ] ]

See also

* List of antivirus software

References

External links

* [http://www.avg.com AVG Technologies website]
* [http://free.avg.com AVG Technologies site for freeware version of AVG anti-virus with Anti-Spyware]