In view of the recent vulnerabilities found in Kaspersky and the possible actual corruption in AVG what can Avast! do to reassure users that they are safe? In a recent Security Now episode on TWIT, it was suggested that the use of an anti-virus program other than Microsoft’s Defender can actually increase the potential for your computer being vulnerable. This opinion was based on the fact that since an anti-virus program must scan your activity and decide what to block or pass that it can actually become a portal (whether intentional or unintentional) for third party software to attach or collect information from your computer. They go on to say that they would question any “free” anti-virus program because other than the hope that a user will update to a paid program what would a company have to gain? In other words, they are suggesting that nothing is “free” and that would bring into question the honesty of free anti-virus programs.
I use both paid and free copies of Avast! and have so far found it to be a great program. I just need a little reassurance from the Avast! management.
We (forum members) are not avast employees but by continued use of avast and knowing how powerful
an anti-virus avast is we can place a lot of faith on the abilities of avast for our protection. Personally I have
been using avast since v5.0 and have never been infected even once.
As for Windows Defender it’s totally useless. In fact Microsoft doesn’t even use independent testing labs to
validate the protection of Windows Defender.
Could you post a link to the TWiT episode. It doesn’t sound as if they know what they are talking about.
If you do some more research you will find “real” professionals speak highly of avast. Do a web search “avast reviews”
and see what you can find.
Don’t get me wrong. I have no reason not to trust Avast. It’s just that at this time, there are many Internet security issues. I never thought about the idea that an AV program could be a security risk. This show does raise some questions and is usually a reliable source of information. Avast has earned my trust over the years and I will continue to use this fine product.
HI would like to say that I have been using avast free ever since it came out way back when it was 4.8. Since then avast free has been for me I like it for the big print, I also like avast free because it has stopped most of the threats from getting into my computer. I just thought I should add my two cents. Have a great evening.
Your not sure about trusting Avast but you seem to trust a person who advocates not using any AV or if you use an AV it should be the free one from Microsoft.
Maybe you need to do a bit more research. :o