There is an option in WebShield “Warn me when downloading files with poor reputation”. Its disabled by default. Currently I am testing Avast Free with this option enabled & must say this works as a good measure in combating zeroday malware. Today too I tried downloading fake Skype, Tuneup Utilities & other zeroday malware & it detected good.
I would like to enable this in users system I have installed Avast. But as its disabled by default so couple queries —
Will it affect & warn for Windows Updates?
Can it also prevent drive-by-downloads & exploits?
Would it be good if it is also implemented locally?
Currently it only warns for files coming through web.
Yes, it’s based on how many people have seen/downloaded the file etc. And other factors such as digital signature so you could get a lot of false positive warning thus why it’s off by default.
Avast doesn’t block, but alerts, so did you get any alerts ?
So far on both of my systems XP Pro SP3 and win7 SP1 I have had no issues with windows update being blocked. That has been the case even from the early beta testing of avast 9.0 through to the latest version 9.0.2013.
I asked coz I like the feature & thought of enabling it on others users system.
But as you guys mentioned may warn about windows updates so could be a prob for users as they are average users & they would not know what to do. So I will keep it at default i.e disabled.