I want to block the site vlc.de and all of their subpages. If I now insert vlc.de in “Enable Site Blocking”, Avast blocks only exact vlc.de but not their subpages, e.g. https://www.vlc.de/vlc_download.php.
So this feature does not fulfill its purpose to hide unpleasant download sources.
Edit Dec 28, 20121: I’ll make a new comment below
Exactly what have you entered and where ?
Without that it is guesswork.
Have you used wildcards * or ?, etc. etc. I guess not, without that then you would only get exact matches.
I have and it works, see attached images 1 and 2.
EDIT: - Note: - I also use the browser add-on uBlock Origin and that blocks vlc.de by default and I had to allow that to test avast. Attached image 3.
Thank you for the answer.
The whole thing is a bit strange. I too had entered the wildcards as you did. Apparently it depends on the browser used. I tested it first with the Basilisk Browser - a browser which I will now uninstall as it will soon be EOL. http of www.vlc.de Basilisk showed as stopped by Avast. But I entered www.vlc.de/vlc_download.php as https - and strangely enough that is in no way blocked in the Basilisk browser.
In Google Chrome or New Edge browser it works - but only if I had HTTPS and QUIC/HTTP3 scanning in Avast enabled. But I do not want to keep HTTPS and QUIC/HTTP3 scanning enabled because concerns such as those discussed here: https://malwaretips.com/threads/https-scan-should-you-enable-it.104630/.
Therefore I will probably use your good hint regarding uMatrix - or maybe I’ll make an entrance in the hosts file.
I used firefox as you might have guessed.
Some sites redirect to https even if you didn’t specifically type that in the url
I don’t think it is wise to disable HTTPS scanning in avast as you are virtually crippling the Web Shield and leaving yourself exposed. It is now rare to see sites that don’t use HTTPS, so the hole in security would be great.
You should only disable the QUIC/HTTP3 scanning if you are actually having a problem with it, many browser are now supporting the new QUIC/HTTP3 protocol and more sites will presumably start using it. That article is from Oct 17, 2020, so in terms of being current security wise is somewhat old, even when the last post is from Jun 6, 2021.
Avast has its own security certificate that is imported into your browser or email client, so it isn’t just any old piece of code trying to act as a man in the middle.
However that is your choice.
Hi Dave, according to the screenshot it was blocked by uBlock Origin.
Thanks, a typo, I have modified the post. I both extensions installed, lately I have noticed uBlock Origin getting involved more often.
The whole thing was a combination of a browser that is obviously incompatible with Avast and my own mistakes. In my attempts I first used http://www.vlc.de without being noticed that only http and in the second attempt https://www.vlc.de/vlc_download.php in Basilisk. So I thought Avast couldn’t block subpages - that was my mistake :-[
In Basilisk Browser https-sites were not blocked by Avast even when HTTPS and QUIC/HTTP3 scanning are enabled in Avast.
In other current browsers like Firefox, Edge or Chrome site-blocking by Avast works.
I will probably have to say goodbye to old-fashioned browsers like Basilisk or Pale Moon completely!
Yep.
Couldn’t agree more.
Browsers move on at a pace to help prevent exploits/weaknesses, so if they aren’t keeping up with the times they will get left behind.
Whilst some have nice uncomplicated interface, nowadays security has to come first.