Blocking HTTPS

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Heres the situation. I am in a public lab that uses avast! and they wanted me to block facebook. I noticed that avast! has a siteblocking feature. Within weeks the children found away around avast!. If you type https://facebook.com, avast! will not block it. It works for all sites that can use Https.

2

Yes, the site blocking feature does not work with SSL (https). This is because it uses the Web Shield to block sites, and the Web Shield ignores https.

3

Thanks. I learned something new.

4

If you are using Firefox you can try blocking sites using the “BlockSite” addon and it has password protection :slight_smile:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/blocksite/?src=search

5

Plus if you even attempt to put in an https url in the site blocking it just tacks on http in front of it.

For this you are probably better either using a firewall or the HOSTS file to block facebook.

6

ScanIT.

I know this will not help with Facebook but at least will stop those kids to mess around with Avast:

Open Avast UI > Settings > Password.

Regards.

7

Are you referring to the Firefox addon “BlockSite”?

8

No, for what the discussion was about failure of avast web shield site blocking for https sites.

I noticed that avast! has a siteblocking feature. Within weeks the children found away around avast!. If you type https://facebook.com, avast! will not block it.
9

I have tried using the avast! password feature and to tell the truth found it a big pain in the butt. As I recall, every time I wanted to go somewhere in the GUI it required that the password be entered. This was a few versions ago so I don’t know if that has changed. Also I don’t know if you can assign the password to only specific user selected features in the GUI.

So as I understand the use of the avast! password feature it is great if you are administering one or more computers and don’t want the user to get in and mess up the avast! settings. However, if you are constantly going into the GUI to verify and change stuff, like adding white listed sites in the Anti-Spam feature the use of the password is more trouble than it is worth. JMO