I have Firewall > Application Rules defined for a desktop email program, and - skipping over the details - they do the following:
- allow dns
- allow smtp
- allow pop3
- block everything else
Avast added 2 rules. The first is the top priority rule they put in front of everything else, which they call "Internet Out," which allows all protocols out to web ports 80 and 443. (The HTML ports.) So by default they allow all web activity.
They also added a rule below all the others that they call the Default Rule, which behaves in a Smart Mode, for all protocols and directions.
I had to manually remove the Internet Out rule to get my desired behavior back. (The purpose of my rules are to deliberately block web activity - the very thing Avast had decided prioritize across the board.
My version was from July - I guess it's possible I've had this behavior since then, and didn't notice. Otherwise, do firewall rule changes get slipped in when Avast adds virus definitions? I mean, I wonder what happened here!
Anyone else noticing changes in the firewall?
