NEW PRODUCT - avast! Free Antivirus for Mac 7.0 (RELEASED 04/26/2012)

We’re glad to announce a new major version of “avast! Free Antivirus for Mac”. The current popularity of Apple products also makes them more interesting for the bad guys so we thought it would be good to prepare for the battle sooner rather than later. The new version has been almost totally reworked compared with our previous solution for the Mac OS.

We’re kicking off with three shields and an on-demand scan. The Web Shield together with the Mail Shield will check the vast majority of incoming data from the Internet. avast! Free Antivirus for Mac is also equipped with a File Shield, which scans all programs stored and executed from your hard drive. Everything is packed in a brand new GUI and is now available as a public beta.

Features:

  • On-demand scanning: It’s possible to scan the whole file system, network volumes or a mounted removable volume. You can also run a custom scan. Scan reports are automatically archived and are accessible from the GUI at anytime.
  • On-screen alerts: Alert messages are displayed on-screen whenever a threat is detected.
  • File Shield: The File Shield scans the binaries of started applications and all files at the time they are modified.
  • Web Shield: The Web Shield monitors and filters all HTTP traffic coming from web sites on the Internet. Connections from your web browser are redirected to the Web Shield module. The Web Shield in turn connects to the requested web server and while downloading the content, it simultaneously scans it for viruses and Trojans. Only clean data is delivered to the browser, all malware is stopped before it gets saved on your Mac.
  • Mail Shield: The Mail Shield monitors and filters all POP3 and IMAP traffic coming from mail servers on the internet. It does not prevent saving of infected files (doing so could lead to irreversible data loss), it just detects them. The File Shield prevents any infected attachments from causing harm to your system.
  • Automatic updates: The scanning engine is automatically updated with our regular VPS database updates.

Installation & Uninstallation:

  • To use the Mail Shield, you need to disable encrypted POP3/IMAP connections in your email client’s settings so the traffic can be scanned. By default, the Mail Shield encrypts all outgoing traffic itself if the mail server supports it (encrypted connections can be forced for selected mail accounts in the Mail Shield settings).
  • Uninstallation must be carried out from the application’s menu bar - item “Uninstall avast!”

If you have any comments of feedback, please start a new topic and/or respond to an existing one rather than bloating this particular thread.

Download from here: http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-mac

Many thanks
Vlk

CHANGELOG:

release 04/26/2012 (version 7.0, build 36770)

refresh 04/17/2012 (build 36618, offered automatically through automatic update if you have 36454)

  • Some crashes were fixed.
  • Many minor fixes.

refresh 03/22/2012 (build 36454):

  • Program update capability (so this should be your last manual update!)
  • Huge amount of bug fixes and minor enhancements everywhere.

refresh 02/27/2012 (build 36227):

  • changes in GUI:
  • New scan type: Local Volume Scan
  • Redesign of the status screen.
  • Added new page for management of WebRep browser plug-ins.
  • WebRep (new feature):
  • Web reputation plug-ins for web browsers (Safari, Firefox, Chrome are supported).
  • Other:
  • Many bug fixes and minor enhancements almost everywhere.

refresh 12/21/2011 (build 35899):

  • localization:
  • Fully localizable
  • English and Czech languages available at the moment
  • changes in Filesystem Shield:
  • Customizable path exclusions
  • Smaller scan overhead for big files
  • Enhanced robustness
  • changes in System Preferences plugin:
  • Dialog for path exclusions
  • changes in GUI:
  • Small adjustments in layout and controls
  • Efficient scan log compression
  • Scan log export to plist format
  • Shield panes modified
  • Context menu for history tabs
  • New “Local Volume” scan type and enhanced scan dialog
  • Number of parallel scans limited
  • Improved communication between GUI and the scanning core
  • changes in GUI helper:
  • New layout of pop-up messages
  • changes in Mail Shield:
  • Fixed bug with connections to non-SSL servers

refresh 11/02/2011 (build 35600):

  • changes in GUI:
  • Repair/Delete buttons now work on scan report for infected files.
  • Added buttons to clear history of shields.
  • Added context menu in Scan report page.
  • Fixes of assorted bugs.
  • changes in MailShield:
  • Added IPV6 support.
  • Added advanced configuration in System Preferences.
  • Fix communication with mail server without SSL support.
  • Other minor fixes.
  • changes in WebShield:
  • Added IPV6 support.
  • Fix connection problems with Kindle and ICQ.
  • Added advanced configuration in System Preferences.
  • changes in FileSHield:
  • Few minor bug fixes.

refresh 09/22/2011 (build 32436):

  • new daemonisation mechanism and install/uninstall scenario
  • all components guarded by the system (keepalive mode)
  • no additional delays in system shutdown/reboot process
  • fixed kernel panic problems upon network shields uninstall
  • problematic cases are detected, auto-reboot offered
  • fixed possible GUI-engine communication deadlock
  • changes in scan reporting
  • new scan report design
  • changes in the main window
  • new status screen design
  • tittle bar with preset/update buttons
  • changes in the fileshield
  • enhanced robustness

refresh 09/01/2011 (build 30664):

  • fixed bug in Filesystem Shield which can under some circumstances
    prevent certain operations (e.g. emptying your Trash) in Finder with
    a message box some file is in use.
  • fixed bug during Uninstall, which can lead to system crash on Lion.
  • minor bug fixes and enhancements in GUI.

refresh 08/11/2011 (build 29138):

  • added support for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion (webshield & mailshield)
  • various minor bug fixes

refresh 07/29/2011 (build 28264):

  • fixed startup mechanism
  • solved dock icon problems
  • window focus
  • drag’n’drop on dock
  • uninstall/reinstall compatibility
  • new system-preferences Avast! pane
  • per-shield start/stop configuration
  • on-demand scan configuration
  • pop-message subsystem configuration
  • GUI/scan bugfixes
  • shield statistics inconsistencies
  • volume scan / full system scan problems
  • MacOS X 10.7 Lion workarounds
  • webshield and mailshield are disabled for now on 10.7
  • we’re working on webshield/mailshield workaround for Lion
  • prolonged lifetime of this beta (till 10/1/2011)

refresh 06/22/2011:

  • explicit VPS update in the application menu
  • fixed some issues of GUI with shield history
  • scan report history has pop-up menu, allowing to delete scan reports.
  • added preference pane in System Preferences
    (for now with few options about popups only, more will come later)
  • dropped Growl dependency
  • fixed various mailshield bugs
  • broken IMAP appends
  • broken IMAP starttls handling
  • broken connections to non SSL capable servers
  • tons of other minor updates and fixes.

refresh 05/27/2011:

  • fixed corruption of downloads over 4GB, caused by the network shield

refresh 05/25/2011:

  • fixed airport connectivity problem, caused by the setup of net shields on MacOS X 10.6.x
  • fixed typo in “Start New Scan” page header

Interesting! Now AVAST will gain more popularity than it already have and several thanks from Mac Users.

Can we please remove the sticky about the old 3.11 Release Candidate now that this new beta is out?

Vlk, does it use the same virus definitions than the Windows version?
Are the updates incremental? Will the technology go for the Linux versions?

Thanks and congratulations!

Tech, The VPS is the same as the windows version, always has been for the Mac verison. Check for Updates is grayed out and not yet available, and it has yet to auto update so at this point It would seem no updates at all

I know that… but as this is a new release…
Is it incremental?

And for the Linux users?

Tech,

I dont think its incremental yet, in fact it looks like it is still using the old v4.8 definitions :frowning: See screenshot attached

Good point. Done.

The current beta is indeed still based on the v4.8 engine, but this will be changed before the official release. Plus, the detection rates of Mac malware is the same between avast 4/5/6 engines. The main point of the beta is to test features like the shields, which should be fully functional.

Thanks
Vlk

Hallo,
VPS is the same as for the windows counterpart. And yes, VPS is updated automatically in an incremental manner (it’s not clickable by the user, but performed by th engine in background in this beta).

regards,
pc

Btw. VPS update is incremental for the Mac Avast since the 3.11 version (in 2.74 it wasn’t incremental yet).

regards,
pc

Hello,

translated avast! Free Antivirus for Mac - Release Notes in the German avast! Community Forums.

Thanks, Adama.
We’ll check that forum too for possible bug reports.

Regards,
pc

Where do I report bugs?

Just go here: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=5.0
and create new topic for each bug.

Regards.

Hello,
send us the files to analyze, please.

Milos

Well this not generating any confidence. This piece of malware has been the topic of active discussion over the last few days all over the Internet and you guys don’t have a sample yet?

Yes, we have, but @iphone900 said that we don’t detect them, so we need exactly that sample to analyze it (we don’t have all files all over the world).

Milos

It’s likely not very widespread. The news sites make a big deal out of every piece of Mac malware so more news coverage doesn’t really mean it’s widespread.

Why do you think so?

I don’t know. I asked only the question
This question: Does avast detect this malware: http://www.macrumors.com/2011/05/25/new-macdefender-variant-installs-without-admin-password-requirement/ ?
Sorry my english is poor