Catching Viruses -Tech Test Avast Video-For Andy, and Advanced Windows Users !

[Tony]

As an Avast! Evangelist I used to get down and dirty with Viruses, and kill the little nuisances dead.
I endured 9 months of hell training as a volunteer under Malware Removal Experts of the highest order, who are recognised by Microsoft, and the Anti-Malware Community as the best people to do the job.
 ( I aren't refering to Avast! Forum, but Malware Removal training sites run by "Microsoft Most Valued Professionals" -- Google it !)
It's a hell of a job and I bowed out gracefully after three years of cleaning crap off people's comps under strict supervision of my teachers.
Malware is a menace, along with its Magnet; Windows Operating Systems.

I've left that ever changing increasingly complex world, ... after i found PCLinuxOS, and basically enjoy my online experience, and this Forum, trying to learn a whole different world of concepts and procedures that I find wonderful.
A Users Test of the new Free Home Beta of Avast!.
[I personally am not trying to advertise, or say buy 'something', affiliate with Business, or Avast!, or the Video tester. This is purely an Educational Video. The PCLinuxOS Organisation in all its parts is in no way affiliated with this Video, or anything in this post. ]

This is a person installing Avast!8 free beta, and releasing Viruses, to watch them be captured, on the Desktop.

We were impressed to find this, or a colleague did, and is given the thumbs up by the Head Geek at Avast! Forums.

It's a Scientific Video of 15 Mins, with Classical Music in the background, so warning the inital setup is pretty boring and may induce sleep.

I like to occassionally show the hard work that goes into running Applications to keep Windows secure; which is a dead loss, but please enjoy if interested.

Regards,

Abraxas  (Tony)

Edit:
Please miss the Install, and Settings features and watch from 5 Mins, 25 secs, on to get to the Infection part of Video
1.) @ 5 Mins, 25 secs the tester tries going to dangerous URL's, they want know if Avast! Free Home will suffice in not taking them to already known 'Bad Destination'.
2.) @ 10 mins, 15 secs the tester Opens a directory and releases collected Viruses to see what if anything will happen.
3.) Explanation: The Tester doesn't have anything to do with Avast organisation, they wish to know if it will do what they want, or should they move on to another Anti Virus product.

Avast free antivirus 8 BETA test

[AndrzejL]

Thanks Tony. I am buffering the video and will watch it sometime in the future.

Regards.

Andrzej

[AndrzejL]

Hmmm... Ok... I watched it...

First of all WHY OH WHY does it wants to install Chrome and Google toolbar by default? Scary...
Second - I am really glad we Linux users have this SUPER-SIMPLE interface coz the windows interface is really overcooked... Sliding / multiple level menus... I got confused after this person started clicking...
Third... WOW virus in jpg file? OR was it just the URL that was considered as malicious? :| If it was a jpg I am scared...
Another thing is the amount of popups and bells and whistles...

The difference between this thing

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2894/avast8beta.jpg

and this nice and simple Linux interface... makes me glad I am running Linux .



BUT their detection rate is off the charts. I like that about them.

I also like that they provide free Linux client.

For a moment there I thought that all those five hundred malware files were copied to the hdd and avast allowed it then I noticed red X in the bottom right corner and I knew avast shields were disabled . Pfeeew... and even tho it left out 31 infected files... i would love to see how avg went thru this task... Did it noticed even one malware infected file or just said "Youz safe DUH!" . 93.8% detection rate is very good... and then there is a fact that it would not allow any of the 31 files that it left behind to be fired up... It didn't deleted them / detected as threat at first but it wouldn't allow them to run either... Odd but as long as it keeps them poor windows users safe... It's fine.

The sandboxing idea is great as long as those clever buggers won't find their way around that... .

Video is actually quite cool. The only things that would bother me is the google stuff and the gui but then... you can deselect google malware and You don't look at the gui all that often. I would definitely use it...

Regards.

Andrzej

[Nok]

I always used Avast when I ran windows, and still recommend it to friends who still do. It never let me down once. 

[Tony]

Thanks both for your feedback. I setup a WinXP computer at home recently and just went OMG !!!

Everything in Windows, and Third party Software in the two years I've exclusively used PCLOS has become dramatically more complex, and "Bells and Whistles".

I was hoping for a little more action in the tests on Viruses, but what more can an AV do than grab it by the ear and quarantine it, or repel it when the Virus tries to invade.

Some comments on Youtube about the Video:

Would you recommend Avast over AVG?

ThePCSecurity

At the moment yes.But I will be more sure when the final version comes out.

Eugene Kaspersky says Free AV's should be illegal, I wonder why,... 

The whole community of Windows Users are transfixed with realtime security, as a Virus can be embedded in a Webpage so easily, and Windows after all this time is like a blind man walking in a minefield.
That is a terrible scenario obviously. Plus the victims who think as Windows is used so widely that it must be safe, nothing could be further from the truth.

I really am so grateful to the developers of PCLinuxOS for giving us a platform that allows us freedom to roam and enjoy our time online, to see the rich content of the Web.

Also I was/am very grateful to AndrzejL's Tutorial for installing Avast4linuxworkstations, and his help in solving some installation problems, basically something I'd overlooked by using Pclos KDE 'MiniMe'.

I try to help look after the small section of the Avast! Forum, the free Linux scanner, which Andy posted a picture.
Surprisingly most problems/complaints are about the GUI, as it's so 'bland'. I point out that it can be run in a Terminal much more precisely, but people want things to look great it seems, well some do, and whether it performs is secondary.

Basically a point I want to make is to not take Linux for granted, that using Windows is erroneous.
If you can somehow avoid using it, phew what a relief.
Unfortunately, as we all here know, it is very hard to bypass using Windows as it dominates 90% to 95% of all Computers used online.

Regards

Tony

[AndrzejL]

Tony.

The only thing I am missing in the Avast for Linux gui is that it does not have "If virus was found continue scanning / dont bother me I will choose an action in the summary window when you're done..." box to check.

It drives me bananas to wait for the first virus to be caught so I can tick "Do this for all" box on "Virus warning" popup and then press continue... Let's say - I start avast scanner and go to bed... if there was a virus 10 seconds later... then avast will never finish the scan... it will wait for me to tick the "Do this for all" box and to click "Continue".

You can run the scan from the terminal and then it's possible to do this... It's just not available for the GUI users I think.

Would I recommend Avast over Avg? Any time of the day. I have seen windows machines running heavy. I was sure there was virus in them but avg showed nothing. Installing / running avast usually fixed the issue...

Regards.

Andrzej

[Tony]

Yes, that's a valid point Andy. The program mainly gets complaints about the GUI, and lack of features.
The Program has basically not been upgraded for at least 5 years, and isn't too high on the Alwil company 'To Do' list.

I've only ever had one Virus in my Computing days, and on the same day my Modem broke down. I was running just WinXP at the time and was fascinated playing with the thing; watching it change it's name when I quarantined it, and cloning itself. I played with it all day as I was offline, plus it was not a System destroying Virus, it just wanted to collect some info and get back home.

I worry about Linux security, but there seems no great concern. The Linux Foundation was hacked, (I think that's correct) just a while back, and they zeroed their Hard Drives to cleanup, plus scrubbed the whole Network I believe.

Seems a Linux User should be wary of their security from the stance of priviledges. I rarely run as root, just for a special operation; but aren't at all sure what dangers are out there for Linux.

As far a development of the 'Avast 4 Linux' Anti-Virus I doubt they have the manpower or incentive to add further features like the one you suggest Andy. There's a lot of people wishing and asking for them, but Alwil seem happy to let it flounder, also relying alot on volunteers, who are a little too dedicated maybe, solving problems for Windows users.

[AndrzejL]

Let's remember that Linux is great but nothing is hackproof .

[Tony]

I'd hate to get 'Hacked' and have a Zombie Computer 

[AndrzejL]

I'd hate to get 'Hacked' and have a Zombie Computer 

We all would hate that .

Sorry cannot see the pic http://myphotos.mypclinuxos.com has been inaccessible for me for several months now.

Regards.

Andrzej

[Tony]

OK, another host, just a silly pic.

[AndrzejL]

OK, another host, just a silly pic.

Harhar thats funny right there