Browser Security and Reputation Plugin - Firefox

system · 2015-05-18T01:32:20.000Z

A while back Avast started including this plugin. I can see that it places icons in google search results. Seems they are green if the site is deemed OK. So this has happened several times now: I click on a page linked from the google search result that has a green Avast icon next to the item and Avast pops up saying that the page is infected. I guess I am just not sure what the purpose is of the browser security and reputation plugin. It seems like if the page is infected, it should not show as green but red or some other indicator to not go there. Can someone explain what I am misunderstanding about this? Thanks.

wizzlbang · 2015-05-18T03:29:19.000Z

the webrep ssytem isn’t ALWAYS reliable, and sometimes false positives are a thing.

Basically, if a site is listed as ‘green’, it doesn’t have a reputation of hosting malware. However avast will still block a page if it thinks it’s spotted any malware embedded in it, regardless of the site’s reputation.

sometimes the malware might not even be from the site itself, but from an ad embedded in it or something, or it could simply be a false positive.

Cast · 2015-05-19T07:45:00.000Z

From my understanding the ratings are from users and that is most likely why its green yet avast says its a malicious site.

bob3160 · 2015-05-19T23:03:52.000Z

It could also very recently become infected. :o

MartinZ · 2015-05-22T16:00:45.000Z

Hi,

could you please write here some keywords you searched for + search engine (google?) and I will check it. This shouldn’t really happen, the AOS rating is not just on user’s voting but also from our internal detections.

Kor1134 · 2018-05-06T21:33:16.000Z

The browser or Windows network service could be hijacked, too. No matter what link you click on, the hijacking malware always redirects you through another server, and Avast can detect the malicious redirect, where you, the user, would never actually see any change in your browser’s behavior, but any decent internet security software will. So also make sure your computer is free of browser hijackers and trojans. May need to run other freeware scans to be thorough, like Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware. Avast is great at preventing infection, but if malware does manage to infect your PC, Avast has never been able to reliably remove the whole problem in my experience. Worst case, consult bleepingcomputer.com for the most effective malware support…for free.

bob3160 · 2018-05-06T22:14:53.000Z

@Kor1134
Posting in a 3 year old thread makes no sense.

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