Avast is one of the most popular Antivirus programs in the world and with a good reason. We were awaiting the arrival of Avast 5 and now that it’s here and has been in use for a few months we felt that it was a perfect time to make a review. Avast Antivirus is a complete Anti-Malware solution which is capable of protection the system form a wide range of malware threats. Offering multi-layered Real Time protection it should be able to protect the system when it matters the most.

Key Fearures of version 5:
• Improved Antivirus and anti-spyware engine
• New avast! Intelligent Scanner
• New Silent/Gaming Mode
• New Behavior Shield
• New avast! Sandbox
• Smart virus updates
• Real time anti-rootkit protection
• avast! Community IQ
• Behavioral Honeypots
• Green computing
• avast! iTrack
• File System / Mail Shield
• Web Shield
• IM / P2P Shield
• Network Shield
• Script Shield

We are reviewing the latest version of Avast Antivirus Professional, 5.0.462.

Default Settings were used throughout the whole review process. Test was conducted using Windows 7 32-Bit with all the latest updates.

The reviewing process will have four stages:

Real Time Protection Test using 50 live URL’s which are distributing zero-day samples

Static Real Time Protection Test with 50 samples downloaded 48h before the test was conducted, the samples will be executed in real time.

On Demand Scan Test with 10.000 samples collected in the past 7 days (3/2/2010 - 3/9/2010)

Infected System Rescue Test where the system was previously infected with 10 samples of malware (Buzus, Renos, Koobface, Bifrose, Inject, Refroso, FraudLoad, ZBot, Kreeper, Alureon)

Result of our reviewing process:

Real Time Protection Test: Avast failed to block 8/50 threats (URL’s)

Static Real Time Protection Test: Avast failed to block 6/50 threats (on EXE)

On Demand Scan Test: Avast missed 287/10.000 samples, detection rate – 97.13%

Infected System Rescue Test: Avast removed 8/10 threats (Renos and ZBot samples were not successfully removed)

Conclusion:

MRG Reviewing philosophy is that you don’t need protection for the past, but present and future threats, with that in mind, continue reading the conclusion.
In this review only the latest malware samples were used, especially in Real Time Protection tests. It was necessary to determine if Avast is able to deliver the protection when it matters the most.
We have to say that the new user interface which is very clean and simple, a true breath of fresh air compared to the previous versions. Installation is very simple and fast, no reboot is required to complete installation as was the case with previous versions of Avast. The default settings offer optimal performance and will be suitable for most users, but if you need to increase your defense it will not be hard. Avast’s scanning speed is very good even if you set it to remove threats on the go.
Avast will provide a very powerful Real Time protection even when it’s dealing with zero-day samples which we used in this review. The multi-layered Real Protection is very strong and with running 8 shields you will most certainly feel secure.
Avast was always strong when being tested On Demand, once again the detection rate of 97.13% may not sound like much, but when we’re dealing with new samples like these were, every score above 92% should be considered as a good one. We have no doubt that within few days, Avast will be able to score 99% detection on this sample set.
Removal capabilities improved since we tested Avast last time. It did fail to remove 2 threats, but it was able to block all 10 in Real Time which is encouraging. For the samples it removed successfully, we found no harmful traces left behind which shows that the removal was clean.
We had to put Avast trough a very tough reviewing process but it didn’t disappoint us and we hope that Avast will continue to improve over time as it was the case in the past. Overall the performance in this review was very good.

I can hardly wait. I am using the Internet Security Version on both my Desktop and Laptop. So far no infections and any intrusions bad sites and three Trojans and one Key Logger stopped from the get go.

Hi killerclown!

FYI

If u are running Avast Internet Security there is a nasty surprise over at matousec:

http://www.matousec.com/projects/proactive-security-challenge/results.php

I guess they are just testing the firewall part.

/W

Yikes... Gadzooks...Boom...Bam... Zowie... Ouch...Looks like the joke is on me. But I will be fine with with all the other shield modules it has and my ridged attitude towards not downloading and opening files from surfing the net. but wow that is quite the eye opener.

Matousec tests are for Host Intrusion Prevention Systems efficacy (I love that word), known also as HIPS. Since such a component is often a feature built into firewall software, the Matousec tests are often mistaken for indications of firewall protection, or the lack thereof. Not all firewalls have HIPS and not all HIPS apps are firewalls.

Good to know Dallas.
They are only testing "leaktests" then, to see what can get out of your computer or call home if you like?

/W

The review will be published in few hours

Review published

Please note that Avast's behaviour blocker is a new implementation in their internet security suite and is just in its "child shoes".
I'm sure the Avast developers are working hard on improving the behaviour shield.
Also look at big guys like Norton, McAfee, TrendMicro, ZoneAlarm, Bitdefender....They don't score well in Matousec's proactive security tests.
One should also look at user friendliness, detection rates and malware removal capabilities; Comodo, ranked nr.1 in Matousec's test, scores just mediocre on detection and removal on malware infested systems (see MRG test results, PCMag reviews).

What I like about Avast is that they listen to their customers and are very passionate about developing their products.
The new interface is just beautifull and very easy to navigate.
It provides powerfull protection against malware and does a good job removing malware from already infested systems.

One last thing: almost all existing security suites are vulnerable to the Khobe attack, which makes it possible for an attacker to bypass the protection mechanism of these products. You can read the article on Matousec.com.

I agree completely that Avast listens to it's user and have continually improved exponentially. They have grown from being "The False Positive King" to being among the best AV/AM in the market. And the free product is not watered down at all. They are considered by many to be a very complete security solution over majority of free AV(s).