Which shields?

[rdeng]

Which avast shields do i need or don't need? Using avast 5 free edition.

[REDACTED]

Depends on what you use. Don't have the im one running if you never IM etc

[Rednose]

Hi rdeng, welcome to the forum

You should use :

- File System Shield
- Mail Shied *
- Web Shied
- Network Shield
- Behaviour Shield

Other Shields should be used if you use the sofware they belong to.

Greetz, Red.


* Thnx to spg SCOTT and DavidR for giving me new insights

[spg SCOTT]

I agree with Rednose, almost

I personally have kept all shields and will not loose them, but that is my preference, and I imagine it is not feasable for some.

I would also add the mail shield to Red's list as I personally feel that it is very important.
This is from my own experience though, having been infected with an IM virus that basically was using my pc to send out spam without my knowledge. At the time avast! didn't alert on the file, but alerted on the actions of sending the emails, otherwise I wouldn't have known it was there...

-Scott-

[REDACTED]

I'd say the best way to do it is to decide if you will ever use a program. For example my dad will never use IM so IM is disabled

[Rednose]

I would also add the mail shield to Red's list as I personally feel that it is very important.

If you use an email client : Yes If you use webmail : No

Greetz, Red.

[spg SCOTT]

Red, I disagree...

DavidR's post in response to 'can I safely turn off the Internet Mail provider option?'

No you shouldn't turn it off, in fact you should set the sensitivity to High, as trojan spambots come with their own SMTP function and avast would be the only thing to scan it and it should alert you to having multiple identical email in a period of time. This may be your first indication that you have an undetected or hidden spambot (often come with a masking program) being on your syste.

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=44829

This describes exactly what happened to me when I first came here and why I feel it is vital.

-Scott-

[Rednose]

Will Avast scan email send from spambots who have their own SMTP function If you are right than I agree with you

Greetz, Red.

[DavidR]

I did a custom install and didn't install either the IM Shield or the P2P shield.

If it is already there terminating them will only scare the pants of him as avast reports that you aren't fully protected. So it is best to use the Windows Add Remove programs, select 'avast! Anti-Virus,' click the Change/Remove button and scroll down to Change, click next and from the list of Shields uncheck the IM Shield and P2P if that isn't used (the others I feel are essential) and OK your way out.

@ Rednose
Scott has beat me to my own quote, so you can see it is important.

[DavidR]

Will Avast scan email send from spambots who have their own SMTP function If you are right than I agree with you

Greetz, Red.

To send spam they have to use port 25 too and that is monitored by the email shield.

[simonsimple]

Looking at the mail shield settings I noticed the only settings are for POP/IMAP accounts, does the mail scanner not run in Outlook connected to a n Exchange Server? I'm using Outlook 2010 and can't see Avast in the Add-ins section in outlook?

[Rednose]

To send spam they have to use port 25 too and that is monitored by the email shield.

Yep, you are right. Never thought about it

Greetz, Red.