AVG AntiVirus

AVG
Developer(s) AVG Technologies
Stable release
17.3.3443 / 30 March 2017 (2017-03-30)
Operating system Windows XP and later, macOS, Android
Type Antivirus software
License Freemium
Website www.avg.com

AVG AntiVirus (previously known as AVG, abbreviation of Anti-Virus Guard) is a family of antivirus software developed by AVG Technologies, a subsidiary of Avast.[1][2] It is available for Windows, macOS and Android.

History

The brand AVG comes from Grisoft's first product, "Anti-Virus Guard", launched in 1992 in Czech Republic. In 1997, the first AVG licenses were sold in Germany and UK. AVG was introduced in the U.S. in 1998.[3]

The AVG Free Edition helped raise awareness of the AVG product line.[4] In 2006, the AVG security package grew to include anti-spyware, as AVG Technologies acquired ewido Networks, an anti-spyware group. That same year, Microsoft announced that AVG components would be available directly within the Windows Vista operating system. AVG Technologies acquired Exploit Prevention Labs (XPL) in December 2007, and incorporated that company's LinkScanner safe search and surf technology into the AVG 8.0 security product range released in March 2008. In January 2009, AVG Technologies acquired Sana Security, a developer of identity theft prevention software. This software was incorporated into the AVG security product range released in March 2009.

According to AVG Technologies, the company has more than 200 million active users worldwide, including more than 100 million who use their products and services on mobile devices.[5]

On 7 July 2016, Avast announced an agreement to acquire AVG for $1.3 billion. [6]

Platform support

AVG provides AVG AntiVirus Free for Windows, AVG AntiVirus for Mac for macOS, and AVG AntiVirus for Android for Android devices. All are freemium products: They are free to download, install, update and use, but for technical support, a premium plan must be purchased.

Features

AVG features most of the common functions available in modern antivirus and Internet security programs, including periodic scans, scans of sent and received emails (including adding footers to the emails indicating this), the ability to repair some virus-infected files, and a quarantine area (virus vault) in which infected files are held.

LinkScanner

The patent pending LinkScanner technology acquired from Exploit Prevention Labs and built into most AVG products, provides real-time updated protection against exploits and drive-by downloads. LinkScanner includes: Search-Shield – a safe search component that places safety ratings next to each link in Google, Yahoo! and MSN search results; plus Active Surf-Shield – a safe surf component that scans the contents of a web site in real-time to ensure it's safe being opened.[7] Concerns regarding web analytics have made LinkScanner a controversial component (see below "LinkScanner Concerns").

LinkScanner Concerns

When AVG 8.0 was first released, its LinkScanner safe search feature was shown to cause an increase in traffic on web sites that appear high in search engine results pages. Since LinkScanner disguises the scans as coming from an Internet Explorer 6 browser when it prescans each site listed in the search results, web site usage logs showed incorrect and overinflated site visitor statistics. The prescanning of every link in search results also caused web sites to transfer more data than usual, resulting in higher bandwidth usage for web site operators and slow performance for users.[8] AVG initially said site administrators would be able to filter the LinkScanner traffic out of their site statistics, leaving the problem of excess bandwidth usage still to be solved.[9] Pay-per-click advertising was not affected by the increase in traffic.[10]

AVG Online Shield

AVG Online Shield is a feature, designed to check files and ensure that they are safe. AVG Online Shield also ensures the safety of exchanging files via instant messengers and VoIP clients.[11]

In response to complaints, AVG announced that as of 9 July 2008 "Search-Shield will no longer scan each search result online for new exploits, which was causing the spikes that webmasters addressed with us",[12] releasing a new build on that date that applies a local blacklist, then prefetches and scans only those links clicked on by the user.[13]

Controversy

As of 2014, there are numerous reports dating back to 2012 that the AVG SafeGuard Toolbar installs itself without the consent of the user, as a side effect of installing other applications. The toolbar program appears to cause significant RAM issues and can be considered an intrusive potentially unwanted program (PUP). Once installed, the AVG toolbar is virtually impossible to remove. The toolbar uninstaller does not function, instead re-installing the add-on if manually removed. Consequently, many discussions and blog posts have described complex procedures for removal of the AVG toolbar, each with very mixed results.[14][15][16][17][18][19]

In September 2015, AVG announced that it would start tracking users for profit, analyzing their data for sale to the advertising industry. This measure received criticism from consumers, the press and security industry, as many users intended to use the software in order to protect themselves from spyware and would not expect the functions of spyware to be "hidden" in security software.[20]

In December 2015, the "AVG Web TuneUp" Google Chrome extension (automatically installed with AVG AntiVirus) was revealed to contain multiple critical security vulnerabilities.[21] Most notably, Chrome users' browsing history could be exposed to any website, cookies from any site the user has visited could be read by an attacker, and trivial cross-site scripting (XSS) issues could allow any website to execute arbitrary code (as another domain).

The XSS vulnerability allowed a user's mail from "mail.google.com" to be read by any website, or financial information to be read from the user's online banking site. The AVG team fixed this by only allowing "mysearch.avg.com" and "webtuneup.avg.com" to execute these scripts. Despite this remediation, attackers could leverage any of these attacks if an XSS vulnerability was found on the AVG sites. As of April 2016, Web TuneUp was still not available for download from the AVG website.

Reception

AVG Antivirus Free 2012 was selected as PC Magazine Editors' Choice in the free antivirus category.[22] AVG AntiVirus Free 2015 received the Editor Choice badge of SoftChamp.[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Avast Closes Acquisition of AVG Technologies". Business Wire. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "FREE 2016: Developer: Avast Software s.r.o." Google Play. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "AVG Technologies Celebrates 15 Years of Internet Security Success". Avg.com. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  4. ↑ "GRISOFT viert 15 jaar van successen met internetbeveiliging | AVG Nederland". Avg.com. 5 December 2006. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  5. ↑ "AVG Surpasses 200 Million Users Worldwide". Now.avg.com. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  6. ↑ https://press.avast.com/avast-announces-agreement-to-acquire-avg-for-13b
  7. ↑ "Veelgestelde vragen | AVG Nederland". Avg.com. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  8. ↑ "AVG Disguises Fake Traffic As IE6". Theregister.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  9. ↑ "AVG update disguises LinkScanner traffic as IE6". Techspot.com. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  10. ↑ "LinkScanner could be behind surge in web traffic". virusbulletin.com. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  11. ↑ "AVG security features". AVG.com. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  12. ↑ "AVG Responds to Fake Traffic Spikes". Networkinstruments.wordpress.com. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  13. ↑ "Grisoft modifies its free AVG product after complaints". News.cnet.com. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  14. ↑ ""AVG Secure Search" is obviously a kind of malware that attaches itself to FF. Is Mozilla working on killing it?". Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "AVG Toolbar & Secure Search: How do I remove it from my browser & PC?". ReviverSoft Blog. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  16. ↑ "How to remove Nation Toolbar — Search.nation.com redirect (Removal) - Tech & Internet Security — News & Guides". Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  17. ↑ "How to Remove AVG SafeGuard Toolbar and AVG Secure Search". Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  18. ↑ Completely Remove AVG safeguard toolbar
  19. ↑ Emil Protalinski. "AVG Security Toolbar is the worst foistware I've ever seen". ZDNet. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  20. ↑ Beuth, Patrick. "Antivirensoftware benimmt sich künftig wie Spyware". ZEIT ONLINE. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  21. ↑ "Issue 675: AVG: "Web TuneUP" extension multiple critical vulnerabilities". 15 December 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  22. ↑ Rubenking, Neil J. "AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012 Review & Rating". PCMag.com. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  23. ↑ "Download AVG AntiVirus Free". SoftChamp.com. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
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