Avira Antivirus PDF Evasion: Posted May 19, 2009: Authored by Thierry Zoller. Avira Antivir suffers from a generic PDF evasion vulnerability. Tags advisory. Find related downloads to Steganos Antivirus 2009 freeware and softwares, download Avira AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus, Avast! Free Antivirus, ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall, Norton Antivirus.
I currently run AVG Free Edition as an antivirus software. I have been doing so for about a year now. My main question is is any one of these three(AVG, Avast, Avira) better than the others protection-wise, or is it just personal preference? I have tried all three, and like the interface of AVG the best, whether it is because it was the first I used and I am used to it more than the others or what not. I routinely run and update AVG, Spybot, Ad-Aware, Malwarebyte, and use Commodo for a software firewall and a router as hardware firewall. I just want the best protection possible.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Personal preference, I think, is the real determining factor. I always used paid-for AV programs, but I was convinced to try Avast about 2 years ago - and I have been a lot more impressed by it than with rest I have tried before. That said, I know that they are all pretty much relatively the same. One thing to keep in mind that is that the best way to avoid infections of any kind is to be a smart user. Keep in mind that no AV and security programs are 100% effective!
Sorry, I'm not really giving you a straight answer, but that's because there isn't one to this topic. Stick with what you like, what you feel comfortable with. If one day it fails you, move on and try something else. I must say one thing about ijack's comment about Norton - I really did give norton a fair chance a few years back, but when I removed it and installed Avast in its place, a whole bunch of stuff were detected by Avast's boot-up scan, so I decided never to trust Norton or invest into any of their products - but given my work, I got a few free cd keys for Norton Internet Security 2009, but before I activated any, I installed the trial version. I was shocked by just how many of the typical Norton issues have actually been fixed by Symantec. Honestly, the thing installed in under a minute, without the need for a restart! The computer did not slow down whatsoever, and it just looked slick!
That said, I did go back to Avast only because there was not enough feedback on its engine, and mere speed/aesthetic improvements will not suck me back into the Norton universe. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is to anyone who has long ago written off Norton, at least give it a try because my impression was that the 2009 edition is unlike anything they produced before (in a good way) and that's worth mentioning.
Some excellent and free on-line scanners: (Note: Most are active X based, thus requiring IE to run - but worth it!)1.2. Http /housecall.trendmicro.com/3. Http /www.eset.com/onlinescan/4.5. Http /www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/? (Haven't used Panda in a few years - but it used to be good)6.
(Haven't used the MS onecare scanner - just know about it)7.I, personally use the Avast Free (Home) - but most are decent, some just slightly better than others (depending on the date of the testing) - http /www.avast.com/. Iam planning to buy a new antivirus, at the moment am using kaspersky IS 2009, but i noticed that the computer is freezing more while playing games, i want a software with good antivirus and firewall!! I was told that Avira and Avast are good? I want something also that wont slow my pc downThere are a lot of good AV/anti-malware solutions out there, but check carefully - many don't include firewalls.
I use Avast (Free) on one machine and ESET Nod32 on another. Nod32 is not free, but I like it's small footprint. I still use the free version of Zone Alarm as a firewall on both.
I just don't think too much about firewalls - I'm a creature of habit, I suppose. Oh, I do have both machines connected through a D-Link router with a good hardware firewall. Both are wired (Cat 5e), so I don't really use the wireless feature, but could if I elect to get a laptop.
Learning has never been so easy!
We've all hit it lately, and it's not going away quickly enough.
Prevention: Educate your users!
The most common way to get AV80/90 is from a compromised, legitimate website (innocent browsing). Teach your users (if you possibly can) that you can be anywhere on the web, places that should be safe, and very suddenly you get a pop-up stating 'you are infected', or 'your machine is running slow, blah blah', literally yelling at you, and there is no 'Cancel' or 'Close' option.
It's all fake. Legitimate software does not yell at you. Press 'Ctrl-Alt-Del' , task manager, choose the applications tab and 'end task' on all the 'Blue E's' NOW! You will prevent a lot of irritation.
I wrote a tutorial on it, and it's worked for me (90 user, small office I know, but at least I feel education is a key reason I have no reoccurances of this problem)
5 Steps totalStep 1: When it's too late: I just can't stop these darn pop-ups!
First: educate your users! (again) let them know they do not really have a virus, the program, like people, lies to you so it can get your credit card information, you will fix it.
I'm lazy, I keep a flash drive handy with 2 tools:
- MalwareBytes
- Avira
(Always download the current version!)
Both free at download.com
Step 2: Install both programs
Scan away, if the network seems busy or the machine is unusually slow, pull the network cable and run off-net until you have finished all repairs to avoid reinfection.
Step 3: Reboot when prompted
I usually reboot if anything was detected anyways, then re-scan with both tools
If the machine goes unresponsive for an extended period, Reboot in safe mode and rerun Malwarebytes. Step 4: Reboot to normal
Reboot & Rescan, until you get NO more detections
Step 5: When no more detections are present, uninstall Avira
(It's only the corporate demo license)
And tell your users again, when something pops up on you that says 'You have a virus' click nothing, call IT.
This procedure is probably overkill, But it seems I ALWAYS find some old trojan or keylogger that's been hanging around, it always seems worth the trouble (I'm there anyways, right?).
I am SURE many of you have their own procedure, which may work great, I'm just letting you know what works reliably for me.
Tim C
Please note, BigTimmy is DEAD ON, Thank you for mentioning it (I had forgotten about this thread) and I have removed ComboFIX from the instructions, it's too destructive and not needed anymore.
Thanks BigTimmy! (Great Minds)
BUT I have to disagree about safe mode, you don't always need to use it anymore, but you DO need it sometimes (depending on how much other crap is also bogging down the PC)
Tim (yup, my name too!)
Published: Oct 22, 2008 · Last Updated: Jan 17, 2018
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