Avast Security Suite Firewall

Has anybody tried it? I did a search and found no posts about how well the firewall performs.

 

I will also be very interested. I would have bought it except for the Matousec tests that indicated it is a poor firewall.
I wonder how someone like me would know how it performs? If I don't get infected does that mean it is good, or that I have been safe and lucky?
Or maybe the way it performs without undue alerts.

I have preferred suites until recently, and would go back to them if the firewalls were good. I'm lost somewhere in space here.

Regards,
Jerry

 

PCMag gave it a very good rating. here

 

Thanks, Jeff.
Did you get my PM?
Regards,
Jerry

 

Avast IS has a silent firewall like Norton, GData. It think it doesn't have any HIPS.

 

For normal users avast! firewall is alright, it does what a firewall has to do, keeping your safe from hackers (really, in the classical way firewalls have nothing to do with malware, just keeping hackers {which ofcourse could lead to an malware infection} out of your pc). But I don't see an advantage of avast! firewall (and Norton firewall and ESET firewall and GData firewall and so on) over the Windows 7 Firewall.
If you want a firewall with HIPS capabilities it becomes a totally different product, and then there are better firewalls than the Windows 7 Firewall (Kaspersky of the popular suites, and Online Armor, Outpost and Comodo and so on).

As long as you are a normal user and just want a ordinary firewall, Matousec tests are totally irrelevant.

But all this is just my opinion, I am sure there will be reactions.

 

I don't have any experience with their firewall, i do know their antivirus is excellent. I've used their antivirus in the past, and the one thing that always impressed me is its deep scanning ability. It found a lot of viruses inside archives when Eset, and Avira both said the archives were clean. This happened on more than just several occasions. This was back in the day when Avira was free, and did not have any adds. I also like Avast's scanning option at boot. I am interested in knowing about their firewall. I don't have a free PC to test it on at the moment, but maybe in the near future.

 

Well I have it installed on one of my machine and I must say I am quite happy with it. Of course it cannot be compare with Outpost but it is very light and it does is job well.

There is no HIPS in this Firewall, that's why it performs very bad at
Matousec.

 

Sorry for the late reply, but I have been trying the security suite for 2 weeks now and I am impressed. It is very light, stable with an average firewall, which is enough though if you are behind a router. Even the web shield doesn't delay browsing!!! With a complement of a light hips it would be excellent protection.

The only thing that I don't like is the virtualization: sometimes firefox crashes and although I have enabled the checkbox all settings (including add-ons, extensions) it just not working. If I uninstall an extension and launch firefox in a non virtual state, the extension is not uninstalled.

 

I admit to being confused regarding firewalls. Here is my problem.
If the average user does not need HIPS and so the average firewall is fine, then why does anyone else need HIPS?

It would seem to me that in the case of a security suite that the various modules work in harmony to prevent infection.

Will someone please explain to me why HIPS are necessary, and under what circumstances would a HIPS firewall prevent infection or whatever that would not be detected by the AV or suite? Why does not everyone need a HIPS firewall if anyone does?
Thanks.

Regards,
Jerry

 

A true classic firewall gives you control of inbound and outbound traffic. Thats it. Not just internet traffic but packets sniffers, ARP attacks, DOS attacks and things through your internet connection. A classical HIPS (Host Intrusion Prevention System) monitors the process, DLL, code injections and other things that you normally don't see just running your computer. It also monitors process that maybe trying to use other processes to access the internet.

 

Thanks. But if such protection is needed for some why not all? If a HIPS firewall provided additional and needed protection that is not covered in some other application, such as an AV, it should be advantageous for anyone.
If the Avast firewall does not have HIPS what other application fills the gap?

When statements are made that the average user does not need a HIPS firewall, and the Windows firewall is enough, then I have to wonder who is not the average user? What does the non-average user encounter that requires HIPS? Do only firewalls have HIPS? I know that the answer to that is, No, so what applications have HIPS that would negate the need for a HIPS firewall?

ADDED: Does Win Patrol Plus negate the need for a HIPS firewall?

I do appreciate the replies.

Regards,
Jerry

 

The not average user is someone that has an advanced knowledge of computers, OS and security programs. I would never but something like malware defender on my wife's laptop. She wouldn't know what to do with the 1st pop up. I have NIS '10 and MBAM on my wife's. Neither ask alot of questions. My wife would be considered an average user. Someone that has no interest in how a computer works or who certain software (Firewall, AV, HIPS ).

 

Hi, kjdemuth.
So is she safe enough without malware defender? Why are you less safe without MD?

I am sincerely trying to learn why I would need a HIPS firewall, or why you need one and your wife does not? Has she gotten infected as a result? What kind of sites do you visit or other work you do that makes a HIPS firewall desirable? Has it ever clearly saved you from malware that would not have been caught by another application on your system?

Notice that I have OA free on my laptop. It seems to run without any more pop ups that LnS for example. Since it does not cause any problems there is no downside so far. But I cannot determine that it has saved me from anything.

When it gets down to it, can folks here say for sure that a HIPS firewall has saved them or is it just a precaution that makes one feel better?
Thanks.

Regards,
Jerry

 

Yes it has saved me before. For someone like myself that does alot of "browsing" on the internet, I need programs that are going to keep me safe.
My wife only checks her email, does searches and may go on facebook occasionaly. Does she need malware defender to keep her safe? No because I wouldn't suggest she use it in the first place. She woulnd't feel comfortable using it. Yes I can say that a HIPS firewall saved me. More than once. Yes I do believe that I need it. It varies on the individual and how the opperate on the internet that dictates what software security they want to run.

 

Thanks for the reply.
Do you recall what you were doing when HIPS saved you? Also was it a firewall or other application that used HIPS?

Regards,
Jerry

 

It was OA. It was the HIPS compenant because it alerted me to the fact that a program was using svchost to send some thing outbound. I don't recall what it was but it turned out to be a trojan that I had downloaded when under virtualization.

 

Thanks again. I'm just trying to figure it out.

It would seem on the surface that except for Kaspersky none of the suite firewalls is as good as OA for instance. I draw this conclusion from Matusec's tests, and evidently HIPS is what those tests are about.
So if I have the choice of Avast Suite or the Pro the strongest set up would be the Pro plus OA free.

Would you agree with that?

Regards,
Jerry

 

I would agree. Mainly because OA has a strong HIPS component. You would have a great combo w/ OA free and avast pro. You could even add a virtualization like shadow defender or deep freeze, returnil.

 

Thanks again.
Jerry