Avast WEBforum
Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: dwh on October 29, 2021, 02:07:19 AM
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Before I updated either product in awhile, Avast icon appeared on Firefox menu bar out of the blue. If I click on that icon, I see the attached screenshot, which I see as asking for permissions out of context. I'm unsure why this happened, but suspect it had something to do with an Avast "minor update" (a practice I don't like; I'm pretty sure Firefox doesn't sneak in changes with automatic updates turned off). What exactly is the popup telling me? Is the Avast extension partially enabled? Does closing the extension disable it? Until explicitly re-enabled? Until the current Firefox instance terminates and Firefox is restarted? Yes, I've followed the Privacy Policy link; it's not clear to me how "Allow"/"Close Extension" would affect things. I've since updated Firefox (acts the same) but I'm still on Avast 21.8 watching the Forum comments about it until I feel a little more comfortable with 21.9.
-dwh
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I too am still on Avast free 21.8 and Firefox is my only browser and I have not seen this.
Have you ever used the Avast Online Security add-on and or does it appear on your Firefox Add-ons list (as disabled) ?
That said I'm just wondering if this isn't an ad being pushed by the Avast Free installation, but is very strange if it were just an ad with the add-on icon displayed.
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Have you tried dragging it off the menu bar using FF's View > Toolbars > Customise?
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That is the new version of Avast online that appears in all browsers, You have to give it the permissions and configure its new options
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That is the new version of Avast online that appears in all browsers, You have to give it the permissions and configure its new options
Well I don't think that is either correct or appropriate (especially in a supposed security product/company), if you didn't already have it installed.
I don't see any other firefox add-ons being installed (as the add-on icon appears within Firefox) that you first haven't specifically downloaded/installed it.
So this shouldn't happen with the AOS either, if the installed Avast Antivirus version is able to do this in 'your' browser it is a breach of trust, tantamount to a malware assault, something your antivirus is meant to prevent.
This is the whole reason I asked the OP if they had ever installed the AOS add-on previously.
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Well, I had the add-on installed and updated to this new version, coincidentally with the new version of Avast
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Is the addon mandatory/automatically added? Can you remove it (consequences?) or at least hide the icon from the browser menu bar?
The defacement of my browser by unwanted features and icons is something that has always annoyed me. I hate clutter. I've had to edit the browsers configuration files and when that doesn't work get into adding CSS to get rid of them. In some cases its not always possible to completely do that. But this is a new level of intrusion by AVAST.
We have the AVAST icon in the system tray from we can access the full range of AVAST's settings, why on earth do we need, let alone want another icon in our browser?
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Well, I had the add-on installed and updated to this new version, coincidentally with the new version of Avast
My response related to the issue reported OP 'dwh' (no response yet), did he have the AOS add-on previously installed as that should be the only reason to have received that notification.
It should not be installed without consent as that is an abuse of trust.
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It should not be installed without consent as that is an abuse of trust.
Oh, I hope they are not reverting to the shady tactic of auto-adding browser extensions again :(
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It should not be installed without consent as that is an abuse of trust.
Oh, I hope they are not reverting to the shady tactic of auto-adding browser extensions again :(
Please stop making assumptions.
Bury them with facts, assumptions just aren't acceptable.
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It should not be installed without consent as that is an abuse of trust.
Oh, I hope they are not reverting to the shady tactic of auto-adding browser extensions again :(
Given that Firefox and no doubt other browsers, it shouldn't be possible to just install an add-on without consent (unless you have it in your list of add-ons). Adding it and then seeking consent, certainly doesn't make it ok.
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OK, mucking around I think I've figured out that Avast has recently pretty-radically re-engineered its "Avast Online Security & Privacy (Avast browser security and web reputation plugin)" extension. By default, Firefox settings for add-ons and themes is "Update Add-ons Automatically." (If you know me, you know I detest such things, while granting they are appropriate for most customers.) I had the old (classic) version installed and enabled, and was used to its appearance. So, it "silently" got automatically updated, which changed the extension's visible presentation, including showing the new Avast icon on the menu bar instead of a "shield" icon. This put the new extension in the just-installed-but-not-configured state. It looks like if the new version was actively installed, there would have been some better guidance to help the customer get the configuration steps done.
I think I've adequately gone through the configuration process and will see how that goes.
I've been able to turn off automatic add-on updating; I'm not very comfortable that I will easily know when add-on updates are available (I think I'd have to regularly look at the "Add-ons and themes" pages, which I've not needed to do very often at all).
-dwh
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Hi,
Avast Online Security has been updated (now Avast Online Security & Privacy). The whole product was revamped. The “shield” icon was changed to the new one. More details can be found here: https://support.avast.com/en-us/article/Use-Online-Security