Avast 2015 releases

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by hayc59, Oct 21, 2014.

  1. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    I'm kind of upset with Avast! now, not for the falling detection rates, or the adding of bloatware, but because of a let-down on my stepdad's computer.

    I got home yesterday night, and my stepdad was on an extra PC in the house looking up something online. Turns out his main computer had the Homeland Security ransomware, and he was looking for ways to remove it. Apparently he had been presented with a UAC popup for a week, but he had kept hitting no. He had run a scan with Avast! and it found nothing, nor did real-time protection. He used to have Malwarebytes, but he mistakenly thought I had told him to remove it, but I had actually told him he could remove ZoneAlarm firewall. Anyways, that night he finally hit Yes on the UAC prompt, as it said it was signed by Microsoft, and he guessed it was safe since Avast! had found nothing. Then he was infected.

    We tried racing against the clock to schedule a boot-time scan, since there was a several second delay between logging into Windows and the malware activating (he had already tried safe-mode, but this cause the computer to instantly reboot). We got the boot-time scan to run, but it went overnight since we both needed to go to bed. So today after he got home from work, it turns out Avast! had not removed it. I tried booting a Kaspersky Rescue disk, but it failed to update its databases, much to my dismay. Then I used HitmanPro Kickstart, which removed the malware with ease.

    Long story short, I am very disappointed that this malware was on his system for a week (though not allowed to fully run until last night, and Avast! failed to detect it at all in that period of time). I know full-well that no AV has 100% detection rates, but a week should be plenty of time for Avast! to detect it through definition updates or heuristics.
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2014
  2. act8192

    act8192 Registered Member

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    Slow startup of the kind you described is often caused by Avast hunting for updates. That can be delayed.
    Disable Avast's self protection then find their .ini file and edit it as described in Reply#17 here
    https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=147753.15
    to delay for several minutes Avast going for updates and silly trying a dozen servers.
    Enable self-protection - don't forget!, reboot, and maybe you'll see a change first or next day.

    If your computer is not XP, the .ini file might be someplace in Program Data or App Data. Don't know if it's still called avast5.ini. Few months ago, on XP, it was.
     
  3. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

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    And what makes you think any other AV would magically obtain protection for some malware being on a system for X time? It may or may not do that, there is no way to know that for a certain.

    Best way for casual users is to use Hardened Mode (Aggressive) and password protect the interface so they can't temper with it. You can rely on this feature more for such users because it will block anything unknown.
     
  4. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    Regarding Kaspersky rescue disk (KRD), note that it can be effective without updating the sigs so I run it anyway if the update fails or is taking too long. The quick scan is very fast and often all you need to remove the malware. Also you can use the registry editor to find and kill malware that is auto-starting in the Windows "Run" folders. That enables you to get back to the desktop where you can follow up with other tools. In your case HitmanPro Kickstart was probably the better choice, but I'm just casting a vote for KRD since it has been effective for me.

    I've seen other AVs miss the FBI ransomware which is similar. I no longer consider any AV sufficient and I've added MBAM Pro (real time enabled) to all of my systems.
     
  5. tgell

    tgell Registered Member

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    The WindowsUnlocker option of the Kaspersky Rescue Disk works well against ransomware, especially if Kickstarter does not work. The offline registry editor of the Rescue Disk is great.
     
  6. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    I completely agree. There is no doubt about the excellent reputation of MBAM, although I use it nowadays as a scanner for a second opinion. I find that its real time guard can slow down some computers when it is deployed with other AVs. I would suggest the combination of Avast and Sandboxie would be less problematic with a lighter footprint providing almost 100% security. Obviously the Achilles's heel of Sandboxie might be a bit of a learning curve, but even with a default configuration it can offer security when the main AV fails to detect...
     
  7. ArchiveX

    ArchiveX Registered Member

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  8. phyniks

    phyniks Registered Member

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    To be honest,I d prefer the older version if there is a comparison.....

    The new one boots slower and there are more occasions in which the AV becomes irresponsive.

    Avast has not been among the tops regarding the detection rate,its reputation and popularity was mainly because of its lightness,speed and having less bugs.(along with its accepted protection level)

    I hope they dont loose their way.
     
  9. vlk

    vlk AV Expert

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  10. Nebulus

    Nebulus Registered Member

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    I'm currently installing it on one of my virtual machines, and I just saw this appalling message:
    It sounds like "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated" :)
     
  11. ArchiveX

    ArchiveX Registered Member

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  12. avman1995

    avman1995 Registered Member

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    Brandon with a ransomware like that on a system a "X" Antivirus program would never be able to update its definations because the malware affects even safe mode and some Internet Access.You can't blame a AV for getting infected,its the user to be blamed.

    I can show you X no. of samples not detected by some AV's over subdued time not just Avast! or COMODO.But just think this is just 1 of many avast! installations you did I assume.Think about what else worse could have happened with the machine.

    I have seen these new type of nasties on my VM and some places.Believe me,they are very hard to detect and no AV can update their definations once the computer falls victim to these new varients if not the older ones.

    I don't know how far avast! has improved with detection ratios and proactive security but we will see how it does with limited sample set testing at AV-C and other places and of course real-world experience.
     
  13. anon

    anon Registered Member

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  14. avman1995

    avman1995 Registered Member

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    VB is just on-demand scanning with the AV engine no execution of samples.All these written reviews are taking the results of independent testing labs that were done with 2014 version.So lets see where 2015 version stands.
     
  15. anon

    anon Registered Member

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    Last edited: Nov 12, 2014
  16. avman1995

    avman1995 Registered Member

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    Avast 2015 was released at 25th of Oct.

    Obviously,this is 2014 version again.I can't see which avast version was tested in the AV-C fact sheet or in the graph either.Again only 592 samples!?? for a month.There is like more than 50,000 samples coming out everyday and 592 for a month is just like a drop in the bucket.

    Its still is a very poor performance IMO.
     
  17. avman1995

    avman1995 Registered Member

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    Oh and for someone who wants to cry out loud on a 4.1% missed samples ratio over a total of 592 samples.

    You should do the math and its just 24.2 samples missed for avast! Big margin ehhh!! I am sure all AV's companies must be getting the missed samples after the test is done so everyone must have created definations for them by now.
     
  18. anon

    anon Registered Member

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    I was expecting exactly that answer.
    Check the pdf....."Last Revision :15th November 2014".........
     
  19. anon

    anon Registered Member

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    https://www.wilderssecurity.com/thre...-test-october-2014.370224/page-2#post-2427038
     
  20. avman1995

    avman1995 Registered Member

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    Anon the last revision need not mean the test was re-performed or something?? Because if it were it would be unfair as other AV's might have added detection for the missed sample set. It may just be a alteration in scores.Until and unless I don't see something clearly stated there is no point in assuming.
     
  21. zfactor

    zfactor Registered Member

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    okay i know some are going to jump all over me here but..... i just finished up a toshiba laptop that was running avast premium 2015 version when i got it yesterday. everything from avast was active and installed all settings were at default and shields were all on i triple checked to be sure but this system was BADLY infected. it was literally barely able to even be used and the system was just PACKED with adware, multiple rouges, browser bars, conduit, a9, ransomware etc etc. im really not sure what happened with this system but this was BAD. im not used to seeing a system with avast come in like this (or at least as bad as this). avast had a BOAT load of stuff in quarantine and they system was still this bad. unless they used this to test malware honestly im not sure what happened. and she swears she doesnt even know what 99% of the malware names are or where they came from (yeah i know.....) but i would have figured on far better detection from avast and avast couldnt remove any of the stuff left installed no matter how many times it tried to the system would restart and be the same way.

    everything is fine now and they asked me to leave avast because they just bought it in august but this system for sure gave me concern. and i have logs and screenshots of 90+% of the stuff. i am not posting this to knock avast but it does have me concerned as to why most of this was not stopped before being installed.
     
  22. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    There's no excuse for Avast not detecting "real" viruses, such as ransomware, but unfortunately PUP detection in Avast is turned off by default. If it was off on this system it would have been interesting to see if turning it on made a difference.
     
  23. mnosteele

    mnosteele Registered Member

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    That can be said for any antivirus program at it's defaults. With Avast at it's defaults it has an average detection rate but when setup properly it's rare that anything slips by.
     
  24. zfactor

    zfactor Registered Member

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    pup detection was turned on which is another reason why i think it should have detected more than it did.
     
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