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Other => Viruses and worms => Topic started by: attorney2 on July 10, 2020, 07:50:02 AM

Title: Does the Avast message "no malware found" also mean "no viruses found"?
Post by: attorney2 on July 10, 2020, 07:50:02 AM
I just did a complete scan of my computer with Avast premium, which took several hours. At the end the message said "no malware found." Does Avast only look for malware or is it also antivirus? Does "no malware found" also mean "no viruses found"? Or do I need separate virus protection? Thx.
Title: Re: Does the Avast message "no malware found" also mean "no viruses found"?
Post by: Asyn on July 10, 2020, 07:56:29 AM
Does "no malware found" also mean "no viruses found"?
Yes.
Title: Re: Does the Avast message "no malware found" also mean "no viruses found"?
Post by: Thomas963 on July 13, 2020, 09:34:09 PM
Malware is a shortened name for "MALicious softWARE" -- viruses fall under the classification of malicious software, so yes.
Title: Re: Does the Avast message "no malware found" also mean "no viruses found"?
Post by: basicforge on November 29, 2020, 09:03:14 PM
This is wrong.  The original poster's question makes sense.  People expect malware to mean an application, or a browser plugin, or something similar, not a virus.  I immediately reacted the same way when Avast presented me with "No malware found."  It made me feel very unsure of what the scan did.  I strongly recommend that it be revised to say something more like "No malware or viruses found."
Title: Re: Does the Avast message "no malware found" also mean "no viruses found"?
Post by: schmidthouse on November 29, 2020, 09:20:40 PM
This is wrong.  The original poster's question makes sense.  People expect malware to mean an application, or a browser plugin, or something similar, not a virus.  I immediately reacted the same way when Avast presented me with "No malware found."  It made me feel very unsure of what the scan did.  I strongly recommend that it be revised to say something more like "No malware or viruses found."

The fact is a 'virus' is Malware!
Title: Re: Does the Avast message "no malware found" also mean "no viruses found"?
Post by: DavidR on November 29, 2020, 09:38:13 PM
Much has changed over the years and this is just one of those things.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=what+is+malware

Viruses are a very small sub-set of what is malware 'malicious software' has the lions share of detections these days.  Would you consider it right if AntiVirus software only detected Viruses or Malware Software only detected Malware and NOT Viruses.