Avast WEBforum
Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: ixjhveayinrz on January 27, 2011, 11:52:47 PM
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Hello all,
In the latest version of Avast, the program AvastUI.exe is trying to connect to the internet despite all internet related settings being off. I have the latest version of Avast Pro, installed only the filesystem shield, and it is still trying to connect.
Please fix this error in the next version.
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I have AIS and the avastUI.exe still connects.
By the way, I see no problems on it. Why should I?
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The problem is that you cannot trust a security product that is sending information to the web behind your back - especially when your boss makes you work on computers which contain very private and sensitive data.
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The problem is that you cannot trust a security product that is sending information to the web behind your back - especially when your boss makes you work on computers which contain very private and sensitive data.
Uncheck to participate in avast Community then into avast settings.
The info passed away is technical (viruses found, actions taken with the files, etc.) NEVER personal data.
You need to trust your security company before using the software.
Here there is no space for doubts :)
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If you read my initial post again, you will notice that I said all internet related settings were turned off.
This means that participating in avast community was off as well.
Hence BUG.
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All my life in avast hands... What's the difference about a connection?
They got my memory dumps, my posts, my mind, my time :)
Ok, if it is a bug, let they troubleshoot it :)
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I understand - is there any way of escalating this to some avast developer?
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A lot of software seems to do this now and I also never trust software that does this, maybe check to see if Avast has an exception in your firewall, if it does, perhaps turning off the exception will make it unable to connect to the internet? I don't think this would work, but it is worth a try, though it might break updates until you re-enable the exception.
Guess this isn't my topic, but I took the time to register and I may as well drop in occasionally when bored to see if I can be of any use eh?
Oh, and to the OP, it seems people in this community don't like hearing about issues in Avast for some reason, or at least, they won't believe you, no matter how computer literate you are. Perhaps you can send an e-mail to Avast support, which can be found easily on their website.
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Well, "All internet related settings" isn't very useful - since we don't know which ones you think are internet related. So please name them all.
Second, it might be useful to know where the connection goes.
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OK more details.
Windows XP service pack 3, english. All windows updates applied. No other security software installed. It is a clean installation of windows using MSDN as resource - no infection on the computer.
Using avast Pro 5.1.889 english, clean installation (i.e. not an update), legal license file supplied (can provide evidence of this, since I am a paying customer).
During installation, only the filesystem module selected, i.e. NO virtualization, NO webshield, etc.
Lets now go through settings:
Open avast interface and go to settings.
In BASIC, uncheck "Show remote content..."
In UPDATES, select "Manual update" for both options. In UPDATE parameters, having either or both or none of the options selected makes no difference - avast still connects (what do they do anyway?)
In STATUS BAR, uncheck "Virus definition version", "Program version", "Definition auto updates".
In COMMUNITY, uncheck "Participate in avast..."
All other settings left at default.
The computer does not have Adobe Flash installed - hence it cannot be flash trying to autoupdate.
The connection is a DNS request (going to port 53 of my DNS server) from AvastUI.exe.
Blocking this connection has no effect on update features of Avast - manual update works flawlessly.
Please tell me what more you need - I need this resolved.
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It seems people in this community don't like hearing about issues in Avast for some reason
On contrary, it's the only way to get better and mature, to improve and develop.
or at least, they won't believe you, no matter how computer literate you are.
Again not. I mean, we're not judging the personal experiences. Just sharing ours.
Perhaps you can send an e-mail to Avast support, which can be found easily on their website.
Igor already jump here.
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Using wireshark, the DNS requests coming from AvastUI.exe are for "program.avast.com" and "www.avast.com".
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Oh, and to the OP, it seems people in this community don't like hearing about issues in Avast for some reason, or at least, they won't believe you, no matter how computer literate you are. Perhaps you can send an e-mail to Avast support, which can be found easily on their website.
Unfortunately, that is just rediculous! It is in everyones best interest (uasers and developers)to listen and hear what users are saying as well as supporters, regardless of computer literacy...computer literacy, what does that mean?? We all have our strengths in certain areas, No one is Super Dude with nothing to learn! ;)
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Well, I just felt that people basically tried to squash my claims about the performance of Avast 5 because they did not agree with them, I may be mistaken, but hey, that's what it looked like. However, this was in another thread and I won't go into it here if you don't mind as I do not intend to take this thread off-topic.
Everyone always has something left to learn - for example, I have yet to learn how to operate Windows Vista/7 without causing a BSOD after 30 seconds, but you can not disagree with something that is a fact wether you like it or not.
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I think you will find the AvastUI.exe is the connection made by Avast control panel / Summary / Current Status to display the advertising & Avast News Service.
I have the AvastUI.exe entry in Comodo Firewall & i tried for interests sake & was able to block it. :)
I suppose you could create a rule with whatever firewall you use if you don't want this connection happening (just a thought hope it is of some help)
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I do not want any advertising in my program - I paid for avast!
Please fix this bug, or at least give us an option to disable this connection if it is truly advertising related (in fact, please let us disable this connection no matter what it is related to).
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Can I get some comments from a developer - so that I know that this bug is (or will be) worked on?
Maybe igor can comment.
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I'm no developer, but mitchell64 is correct.
avastUI connects to get the ad, and the news in the summary page.
(not sure about the ad in the paid versions?)
Block it with the firewall, and you don't see it. Simple as that.
It is not a bug.
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My policy is to remove the internet connection request, as opposed to simply blocking it. It is better if something simply does not happen than to have to block it...
And yes, it is a bug because it should be possible to disable it - because it is stated in the avast privacy policy. Hence if it is not possible to block the request, it is a bug because it does not adhere to the specifications set in the privacy policy.
And given that it happens in the paid version of avast, it is most definitely a bug.
So I would like to have some avast developer comment.
If it is not possible to disable it for all users of avast, then I would ask for a simple patch that only I would receive and would apply every time a new version of avast pro is released.
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Everyone always has something left to learn - for example, I have yet to learn how to operate Windows Vista/7 without causing a BSOD after 30 seconds, but you can not disagree with something that is a fact wether you like it or not.
You sure have a lot to learn.
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And yes, it is a bug because it should be possible to disable it - because it is stated in the avast privacy policy.
Erm, where exactly is this stated in the privacy policy?
Submitting data and making a connection are two different things. Besides, making just a DNS query isn't even a connection to avast! server - it's just a question to resolve the particular IP.
So, maybe the UI doesn't behave completely logical (the DNS check could possibly be done only before it's really needed - and yes, there will always be a possibility of a connection out, e.g. when the license is about the expire - at least I believe so, not 100% sure), and maybe someone checks if it can be improved when time permits - but personally I would hardly call it a bug. It certainly would have a very low priority, sorry.
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If all internet options are turned off then there should be NO connections to the internet, why do developers find this so hard to grasp today? Google programs are the worst for it, constantly opening a connection to 1e100.net.
Incidentally, it appears Avast 4.8 behaves a little better, but apparently that's going to brick itself so that is completely worthless.
You sure have a lot to learn.
Haha, you're funny.
No, but seriously, those Operating Systems always crash when I use them, hence my next computer will use Kubuntu Linux which will also make my cross-platform C++ and Assembly programming easier.
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If there were any option saying "avoid any internet connections", then yes - but there's no such option in avast!.
You can configure automatic updates, showing of online content (i.e. behavior of specific actions, not connections)... but nowhere it says that there won't be any other connection - what's so hard to grasp about that?
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Everyone always has something left to learn - for example, I have yet to learn how to operate Windows Vista/7 without causing a BSOD after 30 seconds, but you can not disagree with something that is a fact wether you like it or not.
You sure have a lot to learn.
He/she did provide a good assessment though in the entire context of the previous post.
It certainly didn't take me long to figure out that such things as itunes and avast! don't mix.
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If you read the OPs first post you will see he is using the avast Pro version so there is no Ad display (only in the free version).
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I thought as much...Then it is just the news service that it connects for...
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If there were any option saying "avoid any internet connections", then yes - but there's no such option in avast!.
You can configure automatic updates, showing of online content (i.e. behavior of specific actions, not connections)... but nowhere it says that there won't be any other connection - what's so hard to grasp about that?
I would then like to ask to please include such option in the next version of avast - and if not possible then I would like to ask for a specific patch that enables just me to disable these things because it is a requirement for the computers that I work on (medical facility).
Besides, making just a DNS query isn't even a connection to avast! server - it's just a question to resolve the particular IP.
So, maybe the UI doesn't behave completely logical (the DNS check could possibly be done only before it's really needed - and yes, there will always be a possibility of a connection out, e.g. when the license is about the expire - at least I believe so, not 100% sure), and maybe someone checks if it can be improved when time permits - but personally I would hardly call it a bug. It certainly would have a very low priority, sorry.
On a separate (less strict on sensitive data) I checked and the same phenomenon appearead - however I allowed the DNS request to proceed, and avast then downloaded hundreds of kilobytes of data from avast servers (checked from IP address). So it is not just a DNS request - it is an actual connection to avast servers, uploading and downloading unknown (and not requested by the user) data.
So yes, I understand that it is a low priority for avast and most of its users - hence I would like to ask to have just a patch for me so that I can disable it and deploy avast on machines containing sensitive data.
Could it at least be put on the avast team's todo list (with a low priority)?
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AvastUI.exe process (i.e. not AvastSvc.exe), with the settings mentioned before, downloaded hundreds of kilobytes of data? That's kinda interesting...
Anyway, making "just a patch" requires about the same effort as implementing such an option. So, my advice is - block the process with a firewall; it's by far the easiest and fastest solution for you.
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The way I can see this resolved is to add a secret switch to avast5.ini that would disable this network communication (and you can PM me the switch so that no one else knows about it).
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They're not going to implement this feature just because of you, when an entire community asks for other improvements, more important, sorry but that's the truth, but i suppose you as a programmer must know this.
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They're not going to implement this feature just because of you, when an entire community asks for other improvements, more important, sorry but that's the truth, but i suppose you as a programmer must know this.
Yes, I understand this, but I can still hope... And as a comment aside, as a programmer I can tell you that I have a habit of dealing with all the small things I can think of before I start doing a major improvement/enhancement of my programs - doing the small things first puts my mind away from having to do the big things, however I often learn something new from these small things.
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The way I can see this resolved is to add a secret switch to avast5.ini that would disable this network communication (and you can PM me the switch so that no one else knows about it).
If such a functionality existed, there wouldn't be anything secret about that switch, everyone could know.
But to implement such a switch, somebody would have to go through all the source code, find all the occurrences where some network connection could be done, change the logic to take that switch into account, decide what to do when the connection is kinda important... and then, somehow, make sure that this is also done for all future features not yet implemented. I am sorry, but I really don't think this is going to happen. Moving the DNS check elsewhere, maybe... but this, giving a guarantee that it won't happen... hardly.
I understand you have to follow some policies, but the fact is that the general trend (especially in AV apps, and especially in end-user products) somehow goes the opposite way - moving a lot of functionality on the network (or into the "could", in the fancy term). And even if not using a "cloud", virus database definitions should be downloaded as quickly as possible... how do you do the updates when avast! is not allowed to connect?
Furthermore, if there's a strict rule regarding network connectivity for security reasons, I'd say such a policy should be enforced in a "hard" way (hardware firewall, or simply a disconnected network) - relying on the fact that you manage to persuade all the programs never to connect anywhere... seems a bit weak to me (but it's just my opinion, and I'm going a bit off topic).
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They're not going to implement this feature just because of you, when an entire community asks for other improvements, more important, sorry but that's the truth, but i suppose you as a programmer must know this.
Yes, I understand this, but I can still hope... And as a comment aside, as a programmer I can tell you that I have a habit of dealing with all the small things I can think of before I start doing a major improvement/enhancement of my programs - doing the small things first puts my mind away from having to do the big things, however I often learn something new from these small things.
Well maybe you'd think otherwise if you'll have to handle with a list of known bugs, improvements to made, listento users feedback..and so on, by the way they are preparing now the 6-th version , and logically their attention is mostly in that direction.
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The way I can see this resolved is to add a secret switch to avast5.ini that would disable this network communication (and you can PM me the switch so that no one else knows about it).
If such a functionality existed, there wouldn't be anything secret about that switch, everyone could know.
But to implement such a switch, somebody would have to go through all the source code, find all the occurrences where some network connection could be done, change the logic to take that switch into account, decide what to do when the connection is kinda important... and then, somehow, make sure that this is also done for all future features not yet implemented. I am sorry, but I really don't think this is going to happen. Moving the DNS check elsewhere, maybe... but this, giving a guarantee that it won't happen... hardly.
I understand you have to follow some policies, but the fact is that the general trend (especially in AV apps, and especially in end-user products) somehow goes the opposite way - moving a lot of functionality on the network (or into the "could", in the fancy term). And even if not using a "cloud", virus database definitions should be downloaded as quickly as possible... how do you do the updates when avast! is not allowed to connect?
Furthermore, if there's a strict rule regarding network connectivity for security reasons, I'd say such a policy should be enforced in a "hard" way (hardware firewall, or simply a disconnected network) - relying on the fact that you manage to persuade all the programs never to connect anywhere... seems a bit weak to me (but it's just my opinion, and I'm going a bit off topic).
I know about the trend with moving towards "the cloud", and I am horrified from a security-of-sensitive-data point of view.
We are using a hardware firewall and our own DNS server resolution as to prevent as much outgoing data as possible - which is how we detected avast's behavior.
The main point is to prevent the programs connecting somewhere when not requested by user. Avast is updated by manually invoking the check when sensitive data is unmounted from the computers - the internet connection here is no problem since it was requested by the user. The problem is when the connection happens without being requested by the user - which can also indicate that something suspicious is going on in the background (such as avast becoming infected). Hence it is better to know that the program does not normally produce any internet requests when not wanted - so that you know that something suspicious is happening when you suddenly see a connection without requesting it - I hope you see what I mean.
Correct me if I am wrong, but it looks like the connection is related to avast news service (or something like that), hence it would appear that it needs only a single switch implemented in the program code - and it is something that is unlikely to break other functionality in the program so it is a safe change.
I would just like everyone know that there are still hospitals and hospital labs that are reluctant to put all the patients' data on the internet for "everyone" to see - hence we need to check the internet functionality of all our programs.
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I would be very interested in knowing if there is any software program similar to Avast that does what the OP is requesting. ???
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Correct me if I am wrong, but it looks like the connection is related to avast news service (or something like that)
My recollection from when I had AIS is that disabling 'show remote content in UI' under basic settings used to prevent the news service (and connections by the UI I seem to recall).
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Correct me if I am wrong, but it looks like the connection is related to avast news service (or something like that)
My recollection from when I had AIS is that disabling 'show remote content in UI' under basic settings used to prevent the news service (and connections by the UI I seem to recall).
The "show remote content in UI" is disabled, and the connections still happen...
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i have the same issue - AVAST UI is connecting to the internet and sending up lots of data - my upload meter shows 40-50 KB/s(yes that's bytes) peak and i dont like this at all... i complained on another forum and the Avast rep over there said i prob have some malware but MBAM and SAS have never found anything....AVAST all of sudden opens up like 4-5 connection and they all say AVAST UI or AVAST GUI or AVAST SVC, something like that and i want know what's going on...this is the PAID version of AVAST IS and community "sharing" is OFF....there is no reason to send any volume of data up from my computer...
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I would like to ask the people who are experiencing this issue (or who view this as an issue) to comment in this thread to show the developers that not everyone is careless regarding what their computer is sending to the internet.
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i have the same issue - AVAST UI is connecting to the internet and sending up lots of data - my upload meter shows 40-50 KB/s(yes that's bytes) peak and i dont like this at all... i complained on another forum and the Avast rep over there said i prob have some malware but MBAM and SAS have never found anything....AVAST all of sudden opens up like 4-5 connection and they all say AVAST UI or AVAST GUI or AVAST SVC, something like that and i want know what's going on...this is the PAID version of AVAST IS and community "sharing" is OFF....there is no reason to send any volume of data up from my computer...
As far as I understand it avast webshield acts as your internet proxy, and avast mailshield acts as your mail client, so you are bound to get some outbound avastsvc connectivity (and probably same principle for P2P and IM, which I don't use).
If "show remote content in UI" is disabled and you still get avast news service that would sound to me like a bug (or at least a change in practice since I had AIS).
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AvasUI is not sending anything to Internet - period. If it's making any connections, then it's downloading something.
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AvasUI is not sending anything to Internet - period. If it's making any connections, then it's downloading something.
I agree. Opening avastUI on my machine gives only 66B outbound (to initiate the connection presumably).
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secret switch
There isn't secretes here. If you don't believe/trust in your security company, better is to move on.
I know about the trend with moving towards "the cloud", and I am horrified from a security-of-sensitive-data point of view.
Encrypt your data, use encrypted connections (https).
To horror there is a solution: unplug the computer :)
We are using a hardware firewall and our own DNS server resolution as to prevent as much outgoing data as possible - which is how we detected avast's behavior.
If your outbound connections are safe, there is no reason to fear avastUI.exe connections.
The problem is when the connection happens without being requested by the user - which can also indicate that something suspicious is going on in the background (such as avast becoming infected).
No, no, no... There isn't anything suspicious on applications to make automatic connections if they are set so (for instance, update).
i have the same issue - AVAST UI is connecting to the internet and sending up lots of data
Lots of data? avastUI.exe or avastSvc.exe (used to updates)? avast! WebShield scanning?
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secret switch
There isn't secretes here. If you don't believe/trust in your security company, better is to move on.
Not trusting a company is not a permanent state of mind - it can be changed if the company listens to its users suggestions - that is how you gain trust as a company. I will not blindly trust anyone without them earning my trust.
I know about the trend with moving towards "the cloud", and I am horrified from a security-of-sensitive-data point of view.
Encrypt your data, use encrypted connections (https).
To horror there is a solution: unplug the computer :)
My data may be encrypted locally - but how do I guarantee that the cloud company keeps the data encrypted? How do I guarantee they do not keep passwords in a plaintext database instead of just storing hashes? How do I guarantee that the company does not have any backdoors? How do I guarantee that some employee of that company will not go on a rampage and sell all data? There are many more other problems with it...
The problem is when the connection happens without being requested by the user - which can also indicate that something suspicious is going on in the background (such as avast becoming infected).
No, no, no... There isn't anything suspicious on applications to make automatic connections if they are set so (for instance, update).
Exactly, nothing suspicious if the automatic connections are set so - BUT it is suspicious if the automatic connections are set off, you have to agree with this if you are a smart computer user.
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AvasUI is not sending anything to Internet - period. If it's making any connections, then it's downloading something.
I understand, but try to explain this to a computer illiterate head of hospital... Or any user who is not very computer knowledgeable - what they will see is avast initiating a connection that the user did not expect to happen. Hence something wrong.
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Not trusting a company is not a permanent state of mind - it can be changed if the company listens to its users suggestions - that is how you gain trust as a company. I will not blindly trust anyone without them earning my trust.
I do not blindly trust in any company either.
But, or you trust or you don't. Seems you don't trust avast.
The company will listen open minded, not blindly, the user wishes.
How do I guarantee that the company does not have any backdoors?
avast is a security company. There isn't any backdoor.
I can't say anything about your network as I'm not on it :)
How do I guarantee that some employee of that company will not go on a rampage and sell all data? There are many more other problems with it...
It won't be an antivirus or a firewall that will avoid that...
Exactly, nothing suspicious if the automatic connections are set so - BUT it is suspicious if the automatic connections are set off, you have to agree with this if you are a smart computer user.
Which are these connections? WebShield does not connect, just scan the connections...
There is nothing suspicious with some of avast connections.
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What they will see is avast initiating a connection that the user did not expect to happen. Hence something wrong.
Again... Is it WebShield? It does not initiate the connection, the user does, it only scans.
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What they will see is avast initiating a connection that the user did not expect to happen. Hence something wrong.
Again... Is it WebShield? It does not initiate the connection, the user does, it only scans.
No webshield - if you read my posts you will see that I only installed filesystem shield.
In my previous post I did not talk about avast in particular, but about the "cloud" in general. I have no problem with avast as a company - I have used it for many years, since ~1995 when I was living in Prague. You can also see that I am not accusing avast or anything else - I am trying to solve this issue in a respectful manner, so I would not say I am a blind user.
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i have the same issue - AVAST UI is connecting to the internet and sending up lots of data - my upload meter shows 40-50 KB/s(yes that's bytes) peak and i dont like this at all... i complained on another forum and the Avast rep over there said i prob have some malware but MBAM and SAS have never found anything....AVAST all of sudden opens up like 4-5 connection and they all say AVAST UI or AVAST GUI or AVAST SVC, something like that and i want know what's going on...this is the PAID version of AVAST IS and community "sharing" is OFF....there is no reason to send any volume of data up from my computer...
As far as I understand it avast webshield acts as your internet proxy, and avast mailshield acts as your mail client, so you are bound to get some outbound avastsvc connectivity (and probably same principle for P2P and IM, which I don't use).
If "show remote content in UI" is disabled and you still get avast news service that would sound to me like a bug (or at least a change in practice since I had AIS).
i don't use P2P or IM and very rarely use Thunderbird....i now turned off "show remote content" but i doubt that's it as all i'm concerned with is data leaving my computer, not much else...and the reason i paid for AVAST IS is for the nice Firewall>Network Connections GUI that shows what program is connecting out, dest IP, ports, speed in, speed out, bytes in, bytes out....
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and i see others on here "don't you trust AVAST??" - its not about trust and btw no, i do not trust AVAST or anyone other software company when i see UNAUTHORIZED connections going out to the internet by their program....
AVAST DOES NOT HAVE MY PERMISSION TO SEND DATA UP AND DOWN WHENEVER THEY FEEL LIKE IT...