Author Topic: Avast browser protection description  (Read 3981 times)

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Avast browser protection description
« on: August 21, 2015, 03:22:31 PM »
Can anybody explain how Avast browser protection works?

I've read Norton 360 description of browser protection and i do not completely understand how browser protection works in antivirus systems.

Norton 360 works only against not fixed vulnerabilities but it is not clear whether it works against every possible not patched vulnerability or not.

So my question is whether Avast browser protection works against any not yet found vulnerability or only against found but not yet patched vulnerabilities.

Is it some kind of virtual machine for browser engines? How it works? And what it actually does?

Offline schmidthouse

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Re: Avast browser protection description
« Reply #1 on: August 21, 2015, 07:30:49 PM »

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Re: Avast browser protection description
« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2015, 02:46:24 PM »
As i see there are only rating based browser protection. There are no binary code modification based protection in Avast antivirus.

I've heard about sandbox in Avast. It seems it is all we have as protection against unknown browser vulnerability.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2015, 03:01:22 PM by Vyacheslav1 »

Online DavidR

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Re: Avast browser protection description
« Reply #3 on: August 22, 2015, 04:12:43 PM »
As i see there are only rating based browser protection. There are no binary code modification based protection in Avast antivirus.
There is more than just rating based browser protection - there is also phishing protection.

Not to mention that avast has the Web Shield that is the real-time scanning of web content for malware.

I've heard about sandbox in Avast. It seems it is all we have as protection against unknown browser vulnerability.

The avast sandbox is different again, you can elect to run your browser in the sandbox (isolated), but it would also be scanned. The full sandbox feature is only available in the paid products not the free version.

The file system shield can run suspect files in a sandbox environment (DeepScreen), which is available in the free version.
Quote from: avast context help extract
When Avast detects suspicious behavior in a file or program it is automatically opened or run in the sandbox to prevent any potential damage to your system.

You can also use Hardened mode:
Quote from: avast context help extract
Enable Hardened mode - Recommended for novice users who are not aware of risks when opening unknown files. Set on moderate, no files with poor reputation are allowed to run. Set on aggressive, only whitelisted files can be opened.
Windows 10 Home 64bit/ Acer Aspire F15/ Intel Core i5 7200U 2.5GHz, 8GB DDR4 memory, 256GB SSD, 1TB HDD/ avast! free 24.2.6105 (build 24.2.8918.824) UI 1.0.799/ Firefox, uBlock Origin, uMatrix/ MailWasher Pro/ Avast! Mobile Security

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Re: Avast browser protection description
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2015, 12:03:29 PM »
So my question is: what Avast Web Shield actually doing? Does it only scans for virus signatures and new unknown virus can break the shield or it is somehow forbids not expected, not necessary system calls from running as seccomp-bpf do in Linux OS and chromium.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2015, 01:24:43 PM by Vyacheslav1 »