Free, web-administered "Avast for Business".

Hi Mayahana

Avast appear from my side not to have replaced the main endpoint version module with another but updated the existing one, as all my machines with ABS on have had the ABCCA service running with a 2 Mb footprint for the past 12 hours & remain V.2503.

If your memory still erratic you may wish to check through the web portal management that the last seen date & time corresponds to the systems that are installed.

Has happened to us a few times in the past when we have frequently amended system drive images & restored back & forward with trying different firewall +other apps etc.

Although the portal shows the box is registered the date / time do not correspond & you are unable to remote message or update existing endpoint config. When this has occurred it just took a few mins to uninstall the endpoint & set it up again then update it through cloud management.

 

I think this product should be classified as beta right now. It's simply not functional enough to be deployed in production environments, lacks too many features, and has a plethora of bugs. For example to get it to 'properly' push the memory leak update I had to uninstall and reinstall it on one of my desktops. Then it detected a 'conflict' with devices, and the only option given was to delete the conflicting device. Which then deleted the one I just installed! Then when I rebooted it 'removed' the existing one from the computer in the background with no notification. To me it feels like I am always fighting this product, like it thinks it can make better decisions than I can as an admin.

 

Actually I am going to leave it on a few non-critical systems to watch it evolve, as I do like the team working with us here, and have high hopes.

 

Glad you are going to keep up the faith.

Once the PUPs application is resolved & the web portal management options have been revised to include more comprehensive settings control options within the File / Mail / Web Shield Active Protection modules. ABS driven in the right direction by the Avast team stands an excellent chance to be a winner in the SMB environment.

 

Thanks guys. We will continue to iterate the product in quality and functionality on a regular basis. More updates coming next week.

We will also be introducing additional language support next week.

On the PUP and in general ability to manage key settings that exist in the client, we will get done ASAP. We realize the importance and in general the usability problem this creates.

Thanks for trusting Avast.

 

Thank you for your work.

When can we get s mobile version of the portal ?

 

I'm replying on behalf of a great team who's doing the heavy lifting here . They get all the credit.

Mobile is coming this year! But, I can't give you a specific date.

 

Hi All,

We officially launched Avast for Business today.
https://press.avast.com/avast-launches-worlds-first-free-business-grade-security-offering

By the way, we have a few nice surprises coming for you in our next release due shortly - especially for the guys that have been most active in this thread . Stay tuned.

 

Great thanks for the heads up, I've deployed it on a few test system and really happy with the free offering.

 

I'm having problems with the we. Shield.

My work uses IP addresses of 172.16.*.* and 172.17.*.* well I can't seem to exclude them and be able to access them. I've tried many different exclusions but still fails toet me in.

Disabling the web shield fixes the problem.

ID like to use wild cards of cover all ips.

They are https

Thank you
Brock

 

Hi Brock

As you are probably aware that currently to make endpoint rules stick you have to include them in the web management template rules.

In your case have you tried going into your portal, Network, Settings, Template, Advanced, Antivirus settings, Exclusions, URL addresses & added / saved entries as ie.172.16.0.0/24, 172.17.0.0/24 or even 172.0.0.0/24 with or without the https:// as to my thoughts this in theory should exclude them from all shields.

The above exclusions don’t seem to flag errors when entered so may be worth a shot buddy.

Regards

Mike

 

Yup I did them in the portal, but I'll try as you suggested and report back.

Also possible bug. When you turn off the web Sheild you can't turn it back on. It error saying can't turn on web sheild. A restart fixed it.

 

the 172.16.0.0/24 worked great. Thanks

 

I had good feelings that it would.

Just for the record I found that if ABS did not like an entered exceptions rule it would would slap an ~ symbol at the end of it after it was entered. The format I suggested had an * meaning to me that they were accepted.

Glad to be of assistance

 

It seems I have received a new program version:

http://i59.tinypic.com/w2oi9w.png

EDIT: Windows Defender was re-enabled during the update on my test machine (Windows 8.1). This may be something to look out for, as running multiple AVs could cause issues.

 

Defender is useless junk. Why would AVAST enable it? It also slows down systems.

I use Raymon Window Defender Uninstaller to permanently excise Defender from machines. No possible way for it to ever bother me again, and also disables Microsoft SpyNet connections!

 

AFAIK Defender is enabled when no other AV is installed and should be automatically disabled as soon as another AV is installed. I think something went wrong during the upgrade process, causing Defender to not disable itself (even after several restarts). I've now disabled Defender manually in the settings.

 

I've used the tool on over 400 Windows 8X machines, and 3-4 Windows 10 machines. It works totally fine.

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/download/did/1984/

As much as I like this new Avast product, as I said I think it needs to marinade for a few months. I wouldn't recommend deployment of it on production networks. I personally think it needed another 6 months of beta..

 

As far as the Defender uninstaller goes we have deployed it to all of the the win 8.1 boxes on our sites with out a murmur- job well done.

Regarding Avast Business Security, I eagerly await the web portal management updates along with others that are in the pipeline that will hopefully make this app a champ.

With the new downloaded endpoint version I have not seen any change so far. Maybe its laying the foundation for new portal settings as you currently are unable to adjust the Antivirus module?

 

I take that back it's not working.

Works in chrome and ie but the issue is with Firefox. Not sure if disabling the https scanning is safe because I dont know what it's all linked to.

 

If I were in your shoes I would always keep https scanning on.

The only thing I have found so far with ABS over https connections is that it is paranoid when dealing with self signed certificates & will prompt always to allow for connection approval. But I have only had this with IE11 on a couple of our intranet sites. Firefox browser is easy as you get prompted once install the cert again & put it in the Trusted Root Certification Authorities area.

What are you trying to achieve with the connectivity between your IP's.

 

Brocke, I'm not sure about this one personally - can you send me a PM or email to walling at avast dot com and I'll get my tech support guys on the phone with you. We'll figure it out.

 

I see hardened mode has been added to the default settings template. Thanks.

I have never, ever seen deepscreen do anything but waste 15 seconds of time. Is this something that should be in a business environment? I foresee nothing but wasted time responding to these deepscreen alerts.

Hardened mode -> aggressive works beautifully. This is what I would use for default.

 

Avast have added additional features in the ABS web portal - Profile - Active Protection (Advanced) module. To include the adjustment of security settings for Endpoint File, Mail & Web virus handling & sensitivity levels.

Any changes made once saved are then automatically pushed down to the assigned workstations.