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AVG AntiVirus

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AVG Anti-virus
Developer(s)Grisoft, s.r.o.
Stable release
7.5.465 / April 19th, 2007
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows, Linux
TypeAntivirus
LicenseFree and Commercial
WebsiteAVG Global Website

AVG Anti-Virus (AVG stands for Anti-Virus Guard) [1] is a range of Antivirus software for the Microsoft Windows and Linux platforms.

Key dates

AVG is produced by Grisoft, a privately held Czech company formed in 1991 by Jan Gritzbach.

In early September 2005, a large stake in the company was bought by Intel. On April 19, 2006, ewido Networks became a part of the Grisoft group.

On November 6, 2006, Microsoft announced that AVG Security products will be available directly from the Windows Security Center in Windows Vista.[2]

Since June 7, 2006, the AVG software has also been used as an optional component of GFI Mail Security produced by GFI Software. [3]

Versions for Windows clients

Grisoft provides a number of products from the AVG range, suitable for Windows 98 onwards. In addition to this, Grisoft also provides a Linux version of the software.

  • AVG Free Edition, a freeware program which allows home users unlimited use and unlimited updates. It is not legal to use these commercially - they are for personal, home use only.
  • AVG Anti-Virus Professional Edition, this is the standalone Anti-Virus product designed primarily for home desktops or for small organizations using peer-to-peer networks. With Version 7.5 the SoHo edition has been discontinued per se, but has been replaced with the option of multiple licences for the Professional Edition. Available are 2, 3, and 5 licences.
  • AVG Plus Firewall Edition, adds a firewall to the Professional version. Is available in 1, 2, 3 and 5 licences.
  • AVG Anti-Spyware Edition, protects against spyware. Based upon the Ewido engine.
  • AVG Anti-Malware Edition, has both anti-virus and anti-spyware facilities
  • AVG Internet Security Edition, contains anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware and anti-spam facilities.
  • AVG Network Editions - With the release of AVG 7.5, there are now several Network Editions of AVG. These are AVG Anti-Virus Network Edition, AVG Anti-Malware Network Edition and AVG Internet Security Network Edition. The Network Editions allow for centralized deployment and management of the AVG products.
  • AVG Rescue CD - a bootable variant of AVG Anti-Malware that can be run in Windows PE. This allows you to scan and remove viruses and spyware that may be stopping a PC from booting. Other tools include a registry editor, network mapping, ping testing and IP configurator.
  • AVG Anti-Rootkit (Free) - a specific tool allowing you to scan and remove rootkits, but does not include realtime protection.

All commercial versions of AVG are compatible with the 64-bit edition of Windows. AVG Free is not compatible with Windows 64 bit. AVG Anti-Virus Professional and Anti-Malware editions also run on Windows Vista. At time of writing the Firewall component and standalone Anti-Spyware are not Vista compatible. This is expected to be fixed soon.

All standard versions of the AVG software are available on a trial basis. Each trial allows all users (including businesses and institutions) a 30 day trial period. After this time a fee is required, which yields a key that unlocks the program for continued use.

Grisoft have now released and update for the AVG Internet Security Edition making it compatible with Windows Vista.

Versions for Servers

Grisoft also sells AVG antivirus solutions for computer servers running both Linux and Windows:

  • AVG Email Server Edition - Protects both server and mailboxes against viruses and spyware, and is licenced per mailbox. Also covers sharepoint servers.
  • AVG File Server Edition - Protects the server, is licenced per connection to the server. This also covers web servers.

The AVG Network Editions can also be licensed to protect File Servers.

  • AVG Anti-Malware SBS Edition - a new licensing package, featuring a combination of the Anti-Malware Network Edition and the E-mail Server Edition.
  • AVG Internet Security SBS Edition - a new licensing package, featuring a combination of the Internet Security Network Edition and the E-mail Server Edition.
AVG Control Center Screenshot
AVG Control Center Screenshot

AVG for Linux/FreeBSD

Grisoft is one of the few security providers that have software for Linux. With Version 7.5, Grisoft is providing a solution for FreeBSD for the first time. Grisoft has incorporated spam detection in addition to virus detection for Linux/FreeBSD software.

Features

AVG features most of the common functions available in modern antivirus programs, including periodic scans, scans of sent and received emails (including adding footers to the emails indicating this), the ability to "heal" some virus-infected files, and a "virus vault" in which infected files are held.

AVGADMIN a remote administration tool allows software to be managed centrally on networks.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

AVG Free Edition has spearheaded the company's growth. According to Grisoft, over 40 million users have AVG Anti-Virus protection, including users of the Free Edition. [4]

The AVG Free Edition is similar to the Anti-Virus Professional product, but does not have all the features. It lacks the fine-grained control over how scans are conducted, and it receives lower priority (than the paid-for products) when downloading updates from Grisoft's servers. The language interface cannot be customised, and English is the only available language.

Technical Support is not available for the Free Edition, whereas support is available to users of the Professional, paid for products.

Grisoft announced that AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition version 7.1 ended in February 18, 2007. Users were required to upgrade to AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition version 7.5. Users are being encouraged to move to the commercial version of AVG, particularly the AVG Anti-Malware and AVG Internet Security products as they protect against spyware as well as viruses. In the last two years the increase in infections has been spyware rather than viruses. AVG Anti-Virus Free (including the 7.5 edition) does not include a firewall, anti-spam nor detect spyware.

However, Grisoft does provide a free version of AVG Anti-Spyware - based upon the former Ewido engine.

AVG Anti-Spyware

On April 19, 2006, it was announced that Grisoft had acquired the German Anti-Malware company Ewido Networks. This was a step forward for Grisoft towards providing comprehensive security. Ewido Anti-Spyware was later renamed to AVG Anti-Spyware. [5]

Memory footprint

One feature of AVG that makes it popular with its users is that it is light on the system and does not slow it down noticeably, unlike some other security software products. Resource use is low; the Professional Edition requires 16MB RAM and 20 MB of space on the hard drive. The Internet Security version requires 64 MB RAM. [6]

Certifications and awards

AVG Anti-Virus has won numerous awards. Certifications that the software holds include the Virus Bulletin VB100% Award - which is awarded to products which manage to detect 100% of the viruses "In the Wild", without false alarming[7]. It is also 100% Detection Rate certified by independent ICSA Labs, West Coast Labs Checkmark Level 1 certification and TÜV Monitored Virus Protection certification. AVG Free 7.1 received a 4/5 rating on download.com. AVG Professional 7.5 has also received a 5/5 rating from download.com[8]

References

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