AVG LinkScanner... Needed? [Archive] - Wilders Security Forums

raven211

July 2nd, 2009, 05:02 AM

I've tried to think through this, but simply don't have the knowledge or something :P - I can't decide if it's important to have as protection. Used it for long, but running Opera, I don't feel very targeted, partly because things like ActiveX atleast I think is disabled. Only times that I've run into things where it would be the one blocking, and that half-heartedly (it would still let me go on to buy a rogue, which this was about), it would be when testing a site of a rogue which was posted, I think in the SpywareBlaster forums. Otherwise it's been the AM-front that I have.

What are your thoughts? Do I really need it to be secure, or is it just a waste of resources and compatibility? Sure... it's been first when going to new rogues and such, but the malware, the real-deal, is what probably would be a job for my AM software - if I would guess.

progress

July 2nd, 2009, 05:24 AM

I'm running it for many months and there hasn't been any warning :) But I'm rarely using Google, maybe that's the reason?!

Did you ever get a warning? ::)

raven211

July 2nd, 2009, 05:53 AM

-{ Quote: "I'm running it for many months and there hasn't been any warning :) But I'm rarely using Google, maybe that's the reason?!

Did you ever get a warning? ::)" }-

Like I said - when testing a rogue - but I don't recall any other time I think. That's why I'm thinking through if I should still keep it and would like some thoughts.

Someone

July 2nd, 2009, 08:16 AM

IMHO AVG LinkScanner is quite useful and if it doesn't drag down your system to a noticeable extent there's no harm in using it.

firzen771

July 2nd, 2009, 08:23 AM

the only alerts ive gotten from linkscanner are pages that have already been flagged by firefox itself :/

raven211

July 2nd, 2009, 08:43 AM

-{ Quote: "the only alerts ive gotten from linkscanner are pages that have already been flagged by firefox itself :/" }-

Yeah, and those browsers (FF, Opera, etc.) are less prone to exploits I believe - even if the popularity of FF is only rising every day. Speaking of which, IE still has lots and lots of serious exploits left untouched by Microsoft according to the report over at Secunia. :-\

I can see the usefulness in the software, but will discontinue to use it for now as a decision till proven more useful to me, just like SpywareBlaster. I don't think SB provides more protection for FF than tracking cookies, so WTF. :blink:

firzen771

July 2nd, 2009, 10:41 AM

-{ Quote: "Yeah, and those browsers (FF, Opera, etc.) are less prone to exploits I believe - even if the popularity of FF is only rising every day. Speaking of which, IE still has lots and lots of serious exploits left untouched by Microsoft according to the report over at Secunia. :-\

I can see the usefulness in the software, but will discontinue to use it for now as a decision till proven more useful to me, just like SpywareBlaster. I don't think SB provides more protection for FF than tracking cookies, so WTF. :blink:" }-

i keep SpywareBlaster even if only for that, its on-demand so i dont mind keeping it :) i wish they wuld make a linkscanner thats a firefox add-on instead of something u have to run with ur system...

raven211

July 2nd, 2009, 12:34 PM

-{ Quote: "i keep SpywareBlaster even if only for that, its on-demand so i dont mind keeping it :) i wish they wuld make a linkscanner thats a firefox add-on instead of something u have to run with ur system..." }-

Yeah, I agree with that. :)

JohnnyDollar

July 3rd, 2009, 01:37 AM

Give WOT a try

raven211

July 3rd, 2009, 05:49 AM

-{ Quote: "Give WOT a try" }-

If it's easy to setup for Opera, I might.

JohnnyDollar

July 3rd, 2009, 06:04 AM

-{ Quote: "If it's easy to setup for Opera, I might." }-

Oh I think they only have a firefox plugin and IE addon come to think of it.
That is shame too because it is an excellent link checker.

TonyW

July 3rd, 2009, 06:34 AM

Does LinkScanner still detect Starware and ThemeXP as 'safe'? The reason I ask is because Cloudeight Information Avenue performed an informal test with four URL scanners in March, and LinkScanner was the only one that marked these two as safe.

raven211

July 3rd, 2009, 09:32 AM

-{ Quote: "Oh I think they only have a firefox plugin and IE addon come to think of it.
That is shame too because it is an excellent link checker." }-

Yes, I've heard good things about it. Thanks, Johnny. :) I think there's some way to make it work in Opera too, but from how I understand it, not as good or seemless. ;)

raven211

July 3rd, 2009, 09:33 AM

m00nbl00d

July 3rd, 2009, 09:54 AM

-{ Quote: "Does LinkScanner still detect Starware and ThemeXP as 'safe'? The reason I ask is because Cloudeight Information Avenue performed an informal test with four URL scanners in March, and LinkScanner was the only one that marked these two as safe." }-

Well, for what I know LinkScanner, mostly, will protect you against domains trying to exploit your system, though it also makes use of a malicious domain blacklist.

So, that's why you should use some other rating tool, like WOT (http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/www.themexp.org).

As you say ThemeXP site isn't rated orange or red by LinkScanner (http://www.avg.com.au/index.cfm?section=avg&action=onlinescan)

PC Tools Browser Defender also rates it red http://www.browserdefender.com/site/themexp.org/

So, as you see, there's no perfect tool. I remember someone created a thread, sometime ago, and I believe it was about Browser Defender, and I showed a few examples where LinkScanner stood its ground, and Browser Defender was rating them green.

JohnnyDollar

July 3rd, 2009, 09:57 AM

-{ Quote: "I think I know what ThemeXP you mean... you mean the site FILLED with malware in every file, right? :P" }-

I was just checking that site on google. WOT flagged it red and had a lot of bad user comments about it. Open DNS blocked me from going to the site. ;D

Joeythedude

July 3rd, 2009, 10:11 AM

Depends what your looking for it to do ! :)

#1
As far as remote code execution ( aka drive-by-downloads) , I think Opera would have much less vunerabilties than say IE6.
If fact I think there never has been an Opera vunerabilty in this regards
So using it to give warnings of sites which host such code is not really needed.

#2
If your looking at it as a "rating tool" to see if a website is trustworthy , in terms of you personally downloading and installing a program on it , then I have no real view.

#3
In terms of using it to scan such downloads before execution , I guess it would be the same as AVG itself.

#4
It may have some other code to check for other web page exploits , which don't involve a download attempt.
Again , as for 1 , I don't think Opera is vunerable to those.

raven211

July 3rd, 2009, 10:29 AM

-{ Quote: "I was just checking that site on google. WOT flagged it red and had a lot of bad user comments about it. Open DNS blocked me from going to the site. ;D" }-

Hehe - happy user of OpenDNS too. ;D Do you know if I should turn it off if using COMODO's secure DNS? I obviously think I should...

Do you've OpenDNS set to only block phishing which is default or do you've any other settings which makes it more secure?

JohnnyDollar

July 3rd, 2009, 10:50 AM

-{ Quote: "Hehe - happy user of OpenDNS too. ;D Do you know if I should turn it off if using COMODO's secure DNS? I obviously think I should...

Do you've OpenDNS set to only block phishing which is default or do you've any other settings which makes it more secure?" }-

Yeah IMO I would turn one of them off and just have one. I have Open DNS blocking phishing and adware. In the advanced settings I have everything checked including enable botnet protection. :thumb:

raven211

July 3rd, 2009, 11:02 AM

Thanks for the information. :thumb:

EDIT: Luckily the Botnet Protection seems to be default. :)

Someone

July 3rd, 2009, 11:31 AM

-{ Quote: "Depends what your looking for it to do ! :)

#1
As far as remote code execution ( aka drive-by-downloads) , I think Opera would have much less vunerabilties than say IE6.
If fact I think there never has been an Opera vunerabilty in this regards
So using it to give warnings of sites which host such code is not really needed.

#2
If your looking at it as a "rating tool" to see if a website is trustworthy , in terms of you personally downloading and installing a program on it , then I have no real view.

#3
In terms of using it to scan such downloads before execution , I guess it would be the same as AVG itself.

#4
It may have some other code to check for other web page exploits , which don't involve a download attempt.
Again , as for 1 , I don't think Opera is vunerable to those." }-
There's also vulnerabilities in plugins, such as PDF readers, flash, java which LinkScanner might detect.

I don't think LinkScanner uses the AVG Antivirus engine? ???

Joeythedude

July 3rd, 2009, 11:59 AM

-{ Quote: "There's also vulnerabilities in plugins, such as PDF readers, flash, java which LinkScanner might detect.

I don't think LinkScanner uses the AVG Antivirus engine? ???" }-

Agree with both comments.

The Adobe exploit one will work in Opera's default config (PDF set up to open automatically ) .

I'm think the other other exploits only the plugin when running in IE. Only 50% sure on that though.

I think the best way of handling exploits that use those things is updating the plugins , via Secunia , or not using common plugins.

JohnnyDollar

July 3rd, 2009, 02:45 PM

-{ Quote: "Thanks for the information. :thumb:

EDIT: Luckily the Botnet Protection seems to be default. :)" }-

It was the adware protection that blocked the themxp site.

raven211

July 3rd, 2009, 04:10 PM

-{ Quote: "It was the adware protection that blocked the themxp site." }-

Okay, nice. It's a shame it doesn't have a "Malware" as it would still improve its usefulness for protection considerably - it doesn't have to detect it all to bolster the user's protection. ;)

cheater87

July 3rd, 2009, 06:40 PM

Linkscanner basically has EVERY link as "Green and ok" WOT rates the sites that Linkscanner says are ok as yellow and red. You can also have WOT block the sites for free. IIRC Linkscanner makes you play to block it.

Someone

July 4th, 2009, 12:30 AM

-{ Quote: "IIRC Linkscanner makes you play to block it." }-
AVG LinkScanner is a completely free product.

lordpake

July 6th, 2009, 12:49 PM

And it's exploit detector, not otherwise bad/questionable content detector that tells you about site's spamming etc. behaviour (a la Siteadvisor/WOT), or what sort of files it hosts.

Of course it marks pages good if they do not contain exploits ...

(Happily using AVG LS myself, alongside SA/WOT)

InfinityAz

July 6th, 2009, 08:24 PM

Has anyone had connectivity issues with AVG LinkScanner and Firefox? If I'm running Firefox for a while, I either will get network timeouts or network connection errors. If I disable LinkScanner, no problems.

firzen771

July 7th, 2009, 03:22 AM

-{ Quote: "Has anyone had connectivity issues with AVG LinkScanner and Firefox? If I'm running Firefox for a while, I either will get network timeouts or network connection errors. If I disable LinkScanner, no problems." }-

nope never had that prob when i had linkscanner installed although i dont have it installed anymore.

Someone

July 7th, 2009, 03:42 AM

lordpake

July 7th, 2009, 03:06 PM

I too experience those network timeouts; it seems to be browser-independent issue.

Restarting Active Surf Shield resolves the issue (for a while) :)

m00nbl00d

July 7th, 2009, 09:58 PM

-{ Quote: "And it's exploit detector, not otherwise bad/questionable content detector that tells you about site's spamming etc. behaviour (a la Siteadvisor/WOT), or what sort of files it hosts.

Of course it marks pages good if they do not contain exploits ...

(Happily using AVG LS myself, alongside SA/WOT)" }-

I was told by AVG that it also checks against a blacklist of malicious domains (non-exploit domains). Of course, not its main targets. The main targets for LinkScanner are exploits.

I guess that nothing is useful, until it becomes useful. LinkScanner is one of those, I guess. And, so are many others.

Page42

July 8th, 2009, 01:51 PM

-{ Quote: "What are your thoughts? Do I really need it to be secure, or is it just a waste of resources and compatibility?" }-
Been meaning to ask you, what exactly do you mean by a waste of compatibility?

raven211

July 8th, 2009, 01:55 PM

-{ Quote: "Been meaning to ask you, what exactly do you mean by a waste of compatibility?" }-

I've had conflicts with other software it seems, or just a failed installation. What struck me was that it didn't fail to load at first - it suddenly just did, and it seemed to be in conjunction with installing MSE. I got unsure myself on why it's failing, I simply can't remember.

Acadia

July 8th, 2009, 02:15 PM

There is another one of these type products that some of you may be interested in. It is called LinkExtend and it includes eight of these products all rolled into one, AVG is not among them. Also, I believe it is only for Firefox. Included are the big names, SiteAdvisor, MyWot, and a few others. It actually uses all eight simultaneously to check in advance for you when surfing. Even has a feature that will block you from going somewhere it suspects then gives you the option to go there anyway if you want.

I tried this product some time ago and it works but it slowed down my surfing by a second or two for each site I went to; I guess it takes that long for all the "advisors" to report back to it then for it to report back to you. But if you don't mind the delay, this product did work. It also had a few other features but I don't remember what they were. This product being rather new has a tremendous potential, in my opinion, if they can somehow speed it up a bit.

Like I said, only for Firefox and does not include the AVG product.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10777
http://www.linkextend.com/

Acadia

raven211

July 8th, 2009, 02:47 PM

-{ Quote: "There is another one of these type products that some of you may be interested in. It is called LinkExtend and it includes eight of these products all rolled into one, AVG is not among them. Also, I believe it is only for Firefox. Included are the big names, SiteAdvisor, MyWot, and a few others. It actually uses all eight simultaneously to check in advance for you when surfing. Even has a feature that will block you from going somewhere it suspects then gives you the option to go there anyway if you want.

I tried this product some time ago and it works but it slowed down my surfing by a second or two for each site I went to; I guess it takes that long for all the "advisors" to report back to it then for it to report back to you. But if you don't mind the delay, this product did work. It also had a few other features but I don't remember what they were. This product being rather new has a tremendous potential, in my opinion, if they can somehow speed it up a bit.

Like I said, only for Firefox and does not include the AVG product.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10777
http://www.linkextend.com/

Acadia" }-

I've seen this one, but I think it's just great you're posting it in this type of topic so that everyone can take advantage of the information. ;) If it was available for Opera, I would possibly use it, if adding significant protection to my browsing and not just safety-ratings - without slowing my browsing speeds down.

m00nbl00d

July 8th, 2009, 04:54 PM

-{ Quote: "I've had conflicts with other software it seems, or just a failed installation. What struck me was that it didn't fail to load at first - it suddenly just did, and it seemed to be in conjunction with installing MSE. I got unsure myself on why it's failing, I simply can't remember." }-

Hmm... I see no problems between MSE and Linkscanner. Maybe something else conflicting there?

raven211

July 8th, 2009, 07:04 PM

-{ Quote: "Hmm... I see no problems between MSE and Linkscanner. Maybe something else conflicting there?" }-

Nah, but thanks anyway. I'm sure it was not MSE by now, but it did happen around the time that I installed MSE and had LinkScanner on my system. ;)

dell boy

July 11th, 2009, 05:40 AM

for people using opera, get the stay secure widget, tells you what exploits browsers have unpatched, currently ie has 1 security hole unpatched, firefox/opera and safari are fine

progress

July 23rd, 2009, 09:35 AM

Is AVG LinkScanner also bundled with Adware like AVG Anti-Virus Free? :what:

firzen771

July 23rd, 2009, 09:40 AM

-{ Quote: "Is AVG LinkScanner also bundled with Adware like AVG Anti-Virus Free? :what:" }-

it wasnt last time i tried it :-\

lordpake

July 26th, 2009, 06:41 AM

There is the optional toolbar. Which is prechecked by the way, So one needs to pay attention when installing.

Whether this is adware or not is debatable, however it is not needed.

Toby75

July 26th, 2009, 11:54 PM

-{ Quote: "
Whether this is adware or not is debatable, however it is not needed." }-

It's just the yahoo toolbar.

progress

August 22nd, 2009, 09:49 AM

-{ Quote: "If I'm running Firefox for a while, I either will get network timeouts or network connection errors. If I disable LinkScanner, no problems." }-

I noticed the same here too, this behaviour is unacceptable :(

cheater87

August 22nd, 2009, 10:43 AM

Linkscanner marks most dangerous sites as safe.

progress

September 22nd, 2009, 02:26 PM

-{ Quote: "Has anyone had connectivity issues with AVG LinkScanner and Firefox? If I'm running Firefox for a while, I either will get network timeouts or network connection errors. If I disable LinkScanner, no problems." }-

robinb/JRViejo: Can you forward this problem to AVG please? :-[

JRViejo

September 22nd, 2009, 03:00 PM

ance, first and foremost, I don't work for AVG so I don't have a direct line to them. robinb is an AVG reseller and unless one of her customers has a similar issue, perhaps AVG will not talk to her. Hopefully, robinb will see this thread and possibly reply, provided she has seen the same problem.

If you or InfinityAz have the paid version of AVG, you have free Technical Support and should take advantage of that, by contacting AVG now.

If both of you use the free version, there's an AVG LinkScanner (http://forums.avg.com/ww.avg-free-forum?sec=theme&act=show&id=127) forum where you can post questions (read the stickies on how to post). Also, a review of their LinkScanner FAQs (http://free.avg.com/faq.num-1241#faq_1241), might shed some light on the problem.

I don't use the LinkScanner, nor the Security Toolbar, and of course, I'm not experiencing this issue with Firefox. Sorry I can't be of help.

lordpake

September 22nd, 2009, 03:38 PM

-{ Quote: "robinb/JRViejo: Can you forward this problem to AVG please? :-[" }-

Try posting in AVG forums. After posting there about this issue I was contacted by tech who had me collect some log files.

I am not saying they do this to everyone, however posting there that you still continue experiencing this issue could help :)

What comes to me, I got tired of this issue and removed the software in question for a while.

simisg

September 25th, 2009, 03:31 AM

In these days all browsers have web shields for bad links internet explorer has also antivirus..... smartguard. Linkscanner is an a extra protection but slowdown things..... if you have a good behavior blocker or hips you dont need anything else. The faster is WOT (im using it).

lordpake

September 25th, 2009, 05:01 AM

-{ Quote: "The faster is WOT (im using it)." }-
WOT is not exploit link scanner.

It's community reputation tool. That may or may not be entirely accurate all the time

simisg

September 25th, 2009, 06:47 AM

also exploit rating.... but not realtime only finjan is real time

Victek123

October 5th, 2009, 10:29 PM

-{ Quote: "In these days all browsers have web shields for bad links internet explorer has also antivirus..... smartguard. Linkscanner is an a extra protection but slowdown things..... if you have a good behavior blocker or hips you dont need anything else. The faster is WOT (im using it)." }-
.
Can you tell me what version of the link scanner you've been using? I read something on the AVG web site which made me think there might be a new version. This is the name of the file I downloaded:

avg_lsf_stb_en_8_37_free.exe