scan ftp traffic

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

hi guys,

am downloading a Linux iso from an ftp site and of course WebShield doesn’t scan anything. I added ports 21 and another one (high number port), but this changes nothing, the download is not scanned. Found this old thread here:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=12837.msg108547#msg108547
may be some more info now? thanks.

I tried redirecting FDM to localhost on port 12080, will see if that works on a new download, for now it’s too late, would have to restart everything. Will check the iso with MD5 anyway…

2

Webshield scans http traffic only, afaik.

3

It doesn’t scan ftp protocol traffic, so simply adding port 21 to the redirects won’t work.

If you ftp program has a scan with anti-virus option then this is the file path to use, C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashQuick.exe.

4

done that for ages in FDM with ashQuick.exe, just wondered if there was a way to get webshield do its job on FTP protocol…OK, nevermind. But I can try to redirect a download to localhost on port 12080, and see what happens, if it works I’ll report here.

5

Redirection isn’t the issue, what is, is the protocol used, the web shield is designed monitor (port 80) HTTP protocol and not the FTP protocol.

6

just what I was thinking, but thought there’d be a chance. But that’s right, it would be scanning ftp by default if it supported it.

7

Unfortunately you are left with scanning the file on completion as you are already doing.

8

actually webshield does support FTP protocol over its http proxy. If you configure Internet Explorer to use localhost:12080 as a FTP proxy, it will work. Its still a HTTP proxy, so I don’t currently know how this feature works with other clients than IE. Using a command line scanner after download is finished is a preferred solution.

9

Thanks for that Lukor, learning every day ;D

For Firefox, Tools, Options, Advanced, Network tab, Connections.

10

so that’s exactly what I said when I suggested configuring Free Download Manager downloads like this :wink:

edit: no, I just tried, webshield just ignores it.

11

Yes I wasn’t sure it would work as the ftp would have to be coming in via the browser as by setting the browser proxy settings that is forcing the browser to use the web shield proxy.

Since the Free Download Manager isn’t classed as a browser it would be ignored by the web shield as it has a list of supported browsers. You could try Opting-in the Free Download Manager executable so the web shield would recognise it that might work.

But on the other hand it could make the web shield unstable or crash or just not work at all.

Edit the C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\DATA\avast4.ini using Notepad [Common] section, add the following line to the section OptinProcess=executableFileName.exe

Where executableFileName.exe is the FDM executable.

e.g.
[WebScanner]
OptinProcess=executableFileName.exe

12

thanks for the feedback, I’ll try this tomorrow and post back here :slight_smile:

13

You’re welcome, good luck.