AVG 8 with Linkscanner messes up website logs

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by Oldjim, Jun 14, 2008.

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  1. Defcon

    Defcon Registered Member

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    Linkscanner seems to be a stupid idea. So it prefetches the pages and places a warning sign so users will know what not to click on. Why not wait till I actually click on it, and just scan the http traffic as the page is downloaded?

    Saves the bandwith and makes it faster too.
     
  2. Pedro

    Pedro Registered Member

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    To be faster, and actually prevent..
     
  3. mizar

    mizar Registered Member

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    Faster? How downloading and scanning the pages i don't even click makes it faster rather than just scanning the page i visit? But if avg pays the bandwith bill that's ok.

    While one can identify the request linkscanner makes from a legit IE 6 request what holds a malware writer not to do so?
     
  4. Pedro

    Pedro Registered Member

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    I'm not denying there's a problem.
    What i am saying, is that there are valid reasons to do it this way. Perhaps they can do it better, i don't know. But scanning at the same time you visit makes the scanning (at least) slower, and probably in their eyes (LS) less secure.
     
  5. jrmhng

    jrmhng Registered Member

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    Re detecting AVG traffic when users use IE 6, this is probably a bug as you don't want link scanner requests to be different.

    Re linkscanner v http scanners in avs, you always get complaints about how they are slow. I remember there was a thread a while back in the ESET forums complaining about how the local proxy used for http scanning was a security hole. So either way, users complain.

    Re bandwidth, I still dont see how this could be a massive problem for users. You are downloading a couple of webpages, how much could it be.
     
  6. maddawgz

    maddawgz Registered Member

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    Last edited: Jul 4, 2008
  7. jrmhng

    jrmhng Registered Member

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    Wow that is quite a reaction.
     
  8. Macstorm

    Macstorm Registered Member

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    They can't stand AVG and i don't really think it's because of the LinkScanner:
    :ouch:
     
  9. maddawgz

    maddawgz Registered Member

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    I know very annoying not everyone has link scanner installed, no need to bash the product though like that, your right it's not about Avg at all, everybody is just following one another, you cant have an opinion :D, a few people defended it though me included, it is a good product still IMHO
     
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2008
  10. jrmhng

    jrmhng Registered Member

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    Yea I dont understand how the tide of opinion has turned against avg so fast. I'd hate to be a PR consultant.
     
  11. DougCuk

    DougCuk Registered Member

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    I think the reason AVG has received such a bad press over the v8 Free product is that millions of users and techies had been so comfortable with v7.5 Free. It was a basic anti-virus program that co-existed with most popular anti-spyware products - and almost never caused installation or runtime problems.

    AVG v8 is a more complex program and suffers far more installation and runtime problems due to the users existing and previous security setup. You only have to check the AVG support forum to see the volume of problems users are experiencing - mostly due to glitches caused by their specific setups.

    In addition the scare tactics used by AVG to get v7.5 Free users to upgrade to v8 caused a lot of anger amongst loyal users. They ran a campaign of intrusive popups warning of impending expiry of v7.5 on specific dates - all of which proved untrue and were contradicted by other AVG sources.

    A much valued security product and company are both far less respected than before v8 launched.

    And now we also have the webmasters backlash against the Linkscanner technology - see http://www.avg-watch.org/
     
  12. avg_fan

    avg_fan Registered Member

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    AVG has already responded to resolve this issue. The full response can be seen at http://www.avg.com.au/index.cfm?section=news&feature=104

    An updated version of AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 is already available, see www.avgfree.com.au. The Search-Shield component of LinkScanner has been modified to only notify users of malicious sites. The equivalent modification to the the AVG 8.0 commercial products will be rolled out on 9th July 2008.

    Once the updated version has been rolled out to all AVG 8.0 users the issue will be resolved.
     
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