Re: Is Avast A Reliable Antivirus Program
Angie Troia
In late 2022, Avast merged with American cybersecurity giant Norton LifeLock in an $8.1 billion deal. Although they now operate under the umbrella company Gen Digital, the companies continue to offer separate digital security services [*].
While Avast offers many one-off products, most customers use Avast for its bundled security plans that include device scanning, a VPN, and the ability to block specific apps, websites, and downloads.
On the other hand, Avast is relatively expensive compared to other services. Moreover, this program requires a lot of system resources to run properly, which can cause your desktop or laptop to slow down.
What you need to know: Avast's antivirus software has one of the highest ratings from independent testing labs; however, its free plan can leave you vulnerable to some common online scams and security issues.
Hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in unsecured connections to intercept data. This threat is especially high when you use public Wi-Fi networks in hotels, coffee shops, and airports. A VPN encrypts your internet traffic and hides your browsing activity from prying eyes. With this security enabled, you can browse, shop, and bank safely.
Whether you have the latest iPhone or an older Android tablet, device performance could be a concern. Outdated software can also present security issues by giving hackers easier access to your device.
What you need to know: Many Trustpilot reviewers claim that Avast makes their computers slow, while others have complained about user issues, such as VPN connection problems and annoying pop-ups [*].
In September 2019, hackers breached Avast's internal network through a temporary VPN account. Whether intentional or caused by human error, the account had been kept open and did not require a second authentication factor.
Compared to other digital security tools, Avast is excellent at detecting malicious programs and cleaning files to keep devices running smoothly. Its range of plans, additional tools, and features can compete with the best cybersecurity providers.
However, despite its prowess and popularity, Avast's data privacy issues are cause for concern. Identity theft is a growing problem that everyone must consider when using the internet. So if you want to protect your personal information, devices, and family from hacking and fraud, you should consider other options.
While Avast specializes in antivirus protection, Aura provides an all-in-one approach to digital security, combining award-winning identity and fraud protection with AI-powered digital security tools, scam protection, 24/7 support, and up to $5 million in identity theft insurance.
With Aura, you get some of the best identity protection on the market, along with advanced features such as antivirus protection, AI-powered scam call and text blocking, Safe Browsing tools, and more.
*The Identity Theft Insurance is underwritten and administered by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, an Assurant company. Please refer to the actual policies for terms, conditions, and exclusions of coverage. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions. Review the Summary of Benefits.
I know that Avast isn't a very reliable antivirus software (is there any that is reliable actually?), so I'm nearly ready to just put 'false alarm' marks on all of these, but I want to notify you about this and get some final reassurance.
I know I've had this conversation with our Installation team before, but Avast raises red flags for a lot of Autodesk products for some reason. Any file within %localappdata%/autodesk (for Fusion specifically) will be safe as these are installed/written by us .
Avast provides all the essential protections users need to stay safe from malware and cybersecurity threats of all kinds, including ransomware, spyware, adware, trojans, viruses, worms, rootkits, and more. It also has a decent free plan and is a very beginner-friendly antivirus.
Overall though, Avast is still one of the better antivirus software programs. It provides excellent malware protection, is super easy to use, and has lots of extra features. All of its plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it out risk-free.
Both apps are easy to use, provide great security, and come bundled with lots of extra features. The anti-malware engine scored a 100% malware detection rate in both apps during my tests. Avast also provides strong web protection, a firewall, breach alerts, a secure browser, advanced anti-tracking protection, and a set of decent system optimization tools.
The free plans, Avast Free Antivirus and One Basic, include the core security features you need to protect your devices. However, by upgrading to Premium Security or one of the premium One plans, you get access to a lot more features.
I like the large number of scan options Avast provides. This allows you to target specific areas where you suspect there might be a problem in order to save time. Avast includes the following scans on both apps:
Whether you use Avast One or the classic app, the real-time protection is very good. When I turned it on and attempted to download the malware samples I had previously used for testing, it prevented all of the downloads. It was also able to catch the samples when they were zipped and encrypted.
The driver and software updater scans for and notifies you of new updates for your drivers and the apps on your computer. Outdated drivers and software can create security vulnerabilities, and keeping track of updates can be a hassle, so this is a pretty convenient feature.
I was disappointed when I tried to torrent a file while connected to Avast. I tried servers in several different countries but none allowed me to participate in P2P downloading. This pales in comparison to Private Internet Access, which allows torrenting on all servers and even comes with port forwarding to increase P2P speeds.
Avast uses strong encryption and operates under a no-logs privacy, both of which are great for privacy. That said, Avast has been fined for selling user data in the past. I would very much like it if the company (and the VPN specifically) were audited to affirm that no logs are kept.
Depending on where you live, Avast will have a different set of plans on offer. In total, there are 3 plans that use the Avast One app: Basic (the free plan), Silver, and Gold. Avast One is only available in the US, the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The 2 plans using the classic app are Free Antivirus and Premium Security. Generally speaking, the One plans have a cleaner app and offer better value considering the inclusion of extra tools, while the plans using the older app have more advanced features and possibilities for customization.
Avast One Silver is a highly modal plan and a big step up from the One Basic plan. It costs PLN145.06 / year and there are 3 different versions: Performance, Privacy, and Device Security. On top of everything included with the Basic plan, the Performance adds optimization tools like an automatic program updater, a disc cleaner, and a driver updater. Privacy gets you the VPN, breach alerts, and a tracker blocker. Device Security comes with webcam protection, email scam blocker, and more. You can also choose between the Individual plan (3 licenses) or the Family version (30 licenses).
Both mobile apps have an intuitive interface. Some of its tools can be found on its main screen and others can be easily accessed from the menu in the top left corner. Given how similar the two apps are, I struggle to understand why Avast chooses to support both.
When I contacted Avast via email, they were helpful and friendly. However, I had to wait almost a full day to receive a response (the website indicates it may take up to two business days). If you require immediate assistance, this might not be the best option.
Avast also provides a ton of additional features. Notably, it includes a Rescue Disk, a secure browser for online banking and shopping, advanced anti-tracking protection, and anti-DNS-hijacking protection.
The best antivirus overall
Norton 360 Deluxe combines excellent malware protection with loads of extra features like backup software, a password manager, a VPN and more. It can get expensive but you get everything together in one subscription.
The best antivirus value
Bitdefender Antivirus Plus offers very good malware protection with lots of useful extra features like a password manager, Wi-Fi scanner, a hardened browser and more. It also has a light system impact during active scans for viruses.
Kaspersky Total Security provides excellent malware protection with lots of useful features like a firewall, backup software, parental controls, a password manager and more. Its VPN is limited but software for your Mac as well as Android and iOS apps are also included with your subscription.
McAfee has improved its malware protection over the years and it's a great choice if you want to protect lots of machines on a budget. It also includes a password manager as well as protection for multiple platforms.
All of Norton's antivirus products offer excellent malware protection, and the once-heavy system-performance load is much lighter. The number of extra features each program has varies, but the sweet spot in the lineup is Norton 360 Deluxe.
It includes a password manager that works on all major platforms, unlimited VPN service, dark-web personal-data monitoring, parental controls and up to 50 GB of online storage space. Two other offerings, Norton 360 Premium and Norton 360 Platinum, give you more online storage and expand the antivirus and VPN coverage to 10 and 20 devices, respectively.
If you want full-on identity protection, Norton offers three bundles with varying degrees of LifeLock service and even more online storage. Their subscription prices run well into the triple digits, but still cost less than if you were to buy the identity protection, password manager, cloud-backup storage and antivirus software separately.
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