Free, web-administered "Avast for Business".

No the the 8.1 boxes with ABS are blazing & run as smooth as silk. The old Win XP box dual core 4GB RAM is the odd one out & used by one of our law undergrad students on work experience that assists us. Used purely for Word & my reconning was if ABS worked well on that as it has, it would do well on the other Win 7 - 8 endpoints that I have in the companies.

So far so good & I'm well impressed. & look forward to see how it hangs on a couple of new file servers coming next week.

Similar to your clients we don't rely on just AV on the endpoints & servers, all our offices have multi layered security filters to help keep the bad guys away.

 

Curious. I may have to try these newer builds. There was a clear slowdown when it was installed, you mentioned to put it into Aggressive to avoid this? I'm pretty picky about any product dropping speeds.

Layered approach is best, I agree. We usually do: FW/NAT->IPS->WAF->AV->ADP, then internally VLAN segregation, and on endpoints whatever solution we decide. Sometimes tossing a Trend server between ADP and Endpoints, with Trend Endpoint Deployment for an additional layer. It's rare to find an infected machine on such a layout. I do similar things at home, minus the ADP and Trend Server.

 

Hi M

When ABS is set to Hardened mode aggressive mode, the only delay received when starting app’s is for a few seconds when it’s checking an unknown file certificate / signature / hash that is not in its very extensive white-list database.

So far over the past weeks of testing, every kosher application (in the ABS White-list) we run throughout our group of company’s launches instantly.

From what I have gathered to date:

In normal mode with Hardened Mode OFF (Default).

If an unknown file be launched is found, first it is run through the sandbox & checked out. This can be where a user will experience a small delay.

With Hardened Mode enabled in the Advanced options in the Web Portal.

Hardened Mode, Moderate:
In the Hardened Modes, DeepScreen (sandbox) is disabled.

Some call this Moderate Mode the “Granny Mode” to keep your old granny from loading the computer with toolbars and bad guys by downloading or installing everything she is offered.
This mode is really more aggressive than the aggressive mode.. When a bad URL / file comes through and is not blacklisted but is found suspicious by heuristics or behavior, it is stopped right there and quarantined so Granny doesn’t get it!

Hardened Mode, Aggressive:
This mode is the only mode that uses the “White List” which is what many believe all AV’s should be going to for better protection

In Avast Hardened Mode Aggressive, when a unknown file is not found on the blacklist it is checked by a huge White List and if not found a pop up appears to allow or reject.

For a user receiving pop ups querying frequently run good applications that have yet to be included in the Avast White-list , I would suggest including them into the custom Hardened mode white-list on the Web Portal, Template, Advanced Options , Anti-Virus area.

Br

Mike

 

@Arsenal - I am told by our developers and QA that the issue with "new version available but unable to update" has been fixed and tested. You will just need to update virus definitions on those machines. Can you please let me know if the issue still persists?

 

@LagerX - Yes, we are currently working on testing R2 with Avast for Business. It should be out in the upcoming 2 weeks or so ;-) Will keep you posted.

 

Thanks! That's great news!

 

I've changed over to Sophos UTM managed endpoints(Free, Avira+Sophos dual engine). Light as a feather.

But I am CLOSELY watching the evolution of this product.

 

By the sound of it you are moving over to the Dark Side master Skywalker

 

Of course it's light as a feather, until everyone starts simultaneously watching different Netflix shows via VPN. You're not running 10-BaseT coaxial are you?

 

1Gbe, and Cat6a throughout the home, on a 180Mbps connection. Why would Sophos UTM and Endpoints get slow? On the UTM it's relative to the hardware. On the endpoints, it's irrelevant.

 

You should be fine then. I was just having fun cooking up a worst-case scenario - the UTM very busy simultaneously verifying 30 different video streams and then envisaging the multiple collisions on a 50 Ohm cable network.

 

The "cloud" is more secure, huh? In certain use cases, there may be an argument, but there are so many inherent problems with this. Let's start with the stupid buzzword: "cloud". Why not just call it what it really is - someone else's server accessing or storing your data, with no way of knowing if security is properly implemented, up-to-date, or monitored. You (the end-user) have no idea if there has been a breach, or to what extent, unless the administrators of the remote server decide to tell you, and tell you the exact extent of it, and in a timely manner.

From your post: "Namely cloud providers have highly trained engineers on staff, dedicated for one thing, and one thing only - security. " Sure, every cloud provider is staffed exclusively with superheroes of security, totally dedicated to protecting YOUR data. Except when they aren't and they don't.

If "things are in an abysmal state" at a particular company and they choose to offsite security, then they are passing the buck to a third party. How can a bean counter with limited, if any, knowledge of security buzzwords or trends be able to make an informed decision on what service package might actually work? The "abysmal" IT staff onsite can't be relied upon to make a competent choice. Hopefully it isn't faith in the slickest presentation and the largest promises for the lowest price.

There is a definite advantage from a liability standpoint to be able to point fingers at an outsourced firm. Probably some breathtaking disclaimers and legalese in the contract they signed, almost certainly absolving the cloud security provider from nearly anything. Other major cloud providers in different industries have doozies (Carbonite, anyone?) Or, just over-promise and pay the fines later (looking at you, LifeLock).

<sarc>Like it or not, AOL/MySpace/PalmPilot/Napster/AltaVista/BYOD/Netbooks/SecondLife is where everything is headed. Experts said so, at one time or another.</sarc>

N.B. - this is not aimed at Avast's product at all, I have no experience with it.

 

Hi,

We still have PUP detection keeps turning off by itself.

An option to disable icon animation would be nice...

Thanks!

 

It seems that after a reboot, every setting changed was reverted to default...

Still buggy...

 

You need to set up your security template disable animation is not there but, for free, I'm not complaining.

http://1drv.ms/1HP3ziS

 

@93036,

Thanks for the tip!

 

It's really annoying...

 

Even after I set a new Template, the General and Troubleshooting settings are being reset...

 

Then you didn't go through and assign the changes to machines you wanted through the dashboard.

 

Yes, I did...

 

Not sure what to tell you; it's working just fine for me.http://s12.postimg.org/lu7ejt1n1/Capture.png

 

Only the General and Troubleshooting settings doesn't work...

 

There are 3 tabs for me; Troubleshooting isn't one of them. "Active Protection", "General Protection", and "Antivirus settings" are all I have.

 

Same here, but what I'm saying is that those sections, under Settings, are reset after a while or reboot...

 

Any new news for avast business cloud?
I'd like to see a option where I can disable option or remove the settings field all together.