Flaw in AVG 8 fixed - bit-tech.net Forums

CardJoe · 8th Jul 2008, 11:49

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/07...-avg-8-fixed/1

A mis-implemented feature in the anti-virus package AVG 8, which caused massive amounts of spurious Internet traffic, has been fixed today.

Paradigm Shifter · 8th Jul 2008, 11:56

I dunno, AVG has been giving me bad experiences of late - like deciding system files are viruses that need to be deleted after an update. After another update, however, they're back to not being viruses.

Also, I've had AVG tell me that the .exe files of brand new, just-installed-games are infected (and therefore won't let me play the game) when the no-CD version has not been flagged as a virus. Which I found very interesting indeed...

CardJoe · 8th Jul 2008, 12:00

That's DRM for you.

Arkanrais · 8th Jul 2008, 12:01

NoScript and Adblock plus plugins for firefox have me doing fine. no (apparent) need for any other internet security on my part.

sotu1 · 8th Jul 2008, 12:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkanrais

NoScript and Adblock plus plugins for firefox have me doing fine. no (apparent) need for any other internet security on my part.

beware of your own arrogance my friend. that's the problem most mac users have! i think it's worth keeping a light avg app at least.

out of interest how does no script and adblock affect your day to day usage of the net? it's something i've been interested in doing

sotu1 · 8th Jul 2008, 12:05

sorry, by "avg" i meant "av"

Timmy_the_tortoise · 8th Jul 2008, 12:40

I have AVG 7.5 on my PC.. and Avast! on my Laptop...

Avast is a waste of time... It never seems to do anything.. And I can't make it do anything.

Paradigm Shifter · 8th Jul 2008, 12:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardJoe

That's DRM for you.

Aye, that was the only conclusion I could come to as well. DRM = virus.

Makes me even more adamant that I'm not going to support stuff like that. False positives are a PITA.

Tris · 8th Jul 2008, 12:55

bit of a turnaround - i read a statement from their head of development (or whatever his job title was) shortly after this issue came out where they said it was totally intentional and planned, which gave the impression they werent gonna do a thing.

Bauul · 8th Jul 2008, 13:29

LinkScanner operates on my laptop, but not on my PC, and they're identical installations of AVG, very odd.

mclean007 · 8th Jul 2008, 13:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paradigm Shifter

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardJoe

That's DRM for you.

Aye, that was the only conclusion I could come to as well. DRM = virus.

Makes me even more adamant that I'm not going to support stuff like that. False positives are a PITA.

By its very nature, DRM has to employ similar tricks to a virus, such as hiding and encrypting bits of memory (to make it harder to snoop keys or reverse engineer). The heuristic scanners in AV applications look for this sort of behaviour, so it's no wonder they register false positives. Though, depending on your point of view, flagging some DRM (such as rootkits) might be quite appropriate...

p3n · 8th Jul 2008, 14:05

I <3 AVG, can't believe we used to give norton £30 a year on our family PC ... long live the free version!

impar · 8th Jul 2008, 21:11

Greetings!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paradigm Shifter

Also, I've had AVG tell me that the .exe files of brand new, just-installed-games are infected ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardJoe

That's DRM for you.

Too bad AVG cant clean the infection.

Sparrowhawk · 9th Jul 2008, 04:07

Personally, as a long time AVG7 user, all I have to say about AVG8 is this. It may very well be the same product, but the team didn't really think out the execution. The eye candy is nice, but looks far and away too "windows-like" for the system resources it takes up. The layout of the program and the useless help files make it seem unprofessional and rushed. But -- it's free and it is good -- so I'm still happy.

As for Link Scanner, these types of active scanning defenses are well-meaning, but a bad idea in the first place. Sure, there's fake traffic. But it goes deeper. My parent's computer, an older Athlon with 1GB of memory, would choke on a Google search with LS enabled. Turning off LS in the options made AVG scream "You May Not Be Protected!" which for such a minor add-on is not true.

For the hypothetical, imagine if a paedo site googlebombed it's way to the first page of the search results for some innocuous phrase like "cheesecake." Link Scanner would "scan" the site, most likely red-flag it, but your IP would be in the logs as a visitor. Even if you didn't really visit, it'd be hard to prove innocence.

r4tch3t · 9th Jul 2008, 04:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by sotu1

beware of your own arrogance my friend. that's the problem most mac users have! i think it's worth keeping a light avg app at least.

out of interest how does no script and adblock affect your day to day usage of the net? it's something I've been interested in doing

Doesn't really affect it at all, faster loading times for some sites. One small thing is some sites need Java for things like drop down selection boxes, but its an easy click to get them working. I find it much better with them on.

crazybob · 9th Jul 2008, 05:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparrowhawk

Turning off LS in the options made AVG scream "You May Not Be Protected!" which for such a minor add-on is not true.

This is the part that bothers me most. I don't feel I need the protection offered by LinkScanner, so its performance penalty, however small, made it undesirable to me. Unfortunately, that means a little angry icon in the system tray all the time. The same thing goes for Anti-Spyware, really. It was a separate program to begin with, and I still see no need for it. A secondary function shouldn't get the same warning message or error as having your virus database out of date.

If I revert to AVG 7, will I still be able to get definition updates indefinitely? I'd prefer that feature-set, but don't want to get stuck with outdated definitions.

Kúsař · 9th Jul 2008, 08:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazybob

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparrowhawk

Turning off LS in the options made AVG scream "You May Not Be Protected!" which for such a minor add-on is not true.

This is the part that bothers me most. I don't feel I need the protection offered by LinkScanner, so its performance penalty, however small, made it undesirable to me. Unfortunately, that means a little angry icon in the system tray all the time. The same thing goes for Anti-Spyware, really. It was a separate program to begin with, and I still see no need for it. A secondary function shouldn't get the same warning message or error as having your virus database out of date.

If I revert to AVG 7, will I still be able to get definition updates indefinitely? I'd prefer that feature-set, but don't want to get stuck with outdated definitions.

Just open AVG, disable 'link scanner' and then go to tools/advanced settings - 'ignore faulty conditions' and check button next to link scanner. There shall be no angry icon in the system tray

impar · 9th Jul 2008, 09:19

Greetings!

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazybob

Unfortunately, that means a little angry icon in the system tray all the time.

Disable the LinkScanner add-on in Firefox.

konsta · 9th Jul 2008, 09:22

I have to say that I've completely lost faith in AVG over recent years. I find that when it does spot a virus, it is usually manifestly incapable of actually removing it. More worrying still was when I switched to Sophos that it found a reasonably significant number of virii that AVG had never noticed!

Paradigm Shifter · 9th Jul 2008, 10:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by impar

Greetings!Too bad AVG cant clean the infection.

Well, it can't do what I - and I presume other tech savvy people would define as 'clean' - it just deletes the file outright. Which might be a solution... but it is not the right solution.

...

I think I'm gonna install NOD32 this evening, see if I like it.

8th Jul 2008, 11:49	#1
CardJoe Player Character bit-tech Staff Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 7,982	Flaw in AVG 8 fixed http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/07...-avg-8-fixed/1 A mis-implemented feature in the anti-virus package AVG 8, which caused massive amounts of spurious Internet traffic, has been fixed today. __________________ this is joe's non-bit-tech blog

8th Jul 2008, 11:56	#2
Paradigm Shifter Lethargic Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 1,213	I dunno, AVG has been giving me bad experiences of late - like deciding system files are viruses that need to be deleted after an update. After another update, however, they're back to not being viruses. Also, I've had AVG tell me that the .exe files of brand new, just-installed-games are infected (and therefore won't let me play the game) when the no-CD version has not been flagged as a virus. Which I found very interesting indeed... __________________ Core i7 920 D0 @ 3.8GHz \| 6GB Corsair 1600MHz \| Gigabyte EX58-UD5 \| XFX 4870X2 2GB \| 4TB \| WUXGA

8th Jul 2008, 12:00	#3
CardJoe Player Character bit-tech Staff Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 7,982	That's DRM for you. __________________ this is joe's non-bit-tech blog

8th Jul 2008, 12:01	#4
Arkanrais Supermodder Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Wangamadness, New Zealand Posts: 330	NoScript and Adblock plus plugins for firefox have me doing fine. no (apparent) need for any other internet security on my part. __________________ Visit my DeviantArt page or I'll make you squeal like a piggy and throw a spatula at you. FEAR THE SPATULA! What the hell part of a chicken is the nugget?! goddamn McDonalds and their LIES!

8th Jul 2008, 12:05	#6
sotu1 Mini Love Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: England, South of. Posts: 1,169	sorry, by "avg" i meant "av" __________________ Death to consolification !!! [size=1]Give me my Windforce! I'm coming back!

8th Jul 2008, 12:40	#7
Timmy_the_tortoise International Man of Awesome Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: County Durham, UK Posts: 964	I have AVG 7.5 on my PC.. and Avast! on my Laptop... Avast is a waste of time... It never seems to do anything.. And I can't make it do anything. __________________ Q6600 @ 2.40GHz w/G0\|Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R\|4GB OCZ Gold PC-6400 800MHz\|Powercolor Radeon HD4850\|Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB\|Scythe Ninja Mini\|LG Blu-ray/HD DVD/DVD-RW Combo Drive\|Corsair TX650W\|Antec NSK2480 Pioneer VSX-417\|2x Gale 3010\|2x Yamaha NSP110\| MS304W Centre \| MS308 Subwoofer

8th Jul 2008, 12:55	#9
Tris Multimodder Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 109	bit of a turnaround - i read a statement from their head of development (or whatever his job title was) shortly after this issue came out where they said it was totally intentional and planned, which gave the impression they werent gonna do a thing.

8th Jul 2008, 13:29	#10
Bauul Sir Bongaminge Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Godalming, near Guildford Posts: 1,553	LinkScanner operates on my laptop, but not on my PC, and they're identical installations of AVG, very odd. __________________ Pentium 4 CPU 3.4 Ghz \| 1Gb + 2x512Mb Corsair DDR2 667 Mhz Sapphire Radeon HD 4770 512Mb\| WD Raptor 36Gb, Seagate 300Gb \| Asus P5LD2 SE Ibanez RG 470 Japanese Edition \| 1991 Japanese Lo-TRS Tremolo \| V7 S1 Custom V8 HSH Pickups

8th Jul 2008, 14:05	#12
p3n Hypermodder Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 736	I <3 AVG, can't believe we used to give norton £30 a year on our family PC ... long live the free version!

9th Jul 2008, 04:07	#14
Sparrowhawk Wetsander Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Kentucky Posts: 545	Personally, as a long time AVG7 user, all I have to say about AVG8 is this. It may very well be the same product, but the team didn't really think out the execution. The eye candy is nice, but looks far and away too "windows-like" for the system resources it takes up. The layout of the program and the useless help files make it seem unprofessional and rushed. But -- it's free and it is good -- so I'm still happy. As for Link Scanner, these types of active scanning defenses are well-meaning, but a bad idea in the first place. Sure, there's fake traffic. But it goes deeper. My parent's computer, an older Athlon with 1GB of memory, would choke on a Google search with LS enabled. Turning off LS in the options made AVG scream "You May Not Be Protected!" which for such a minor add-on is not true. For the hypothetical, imagine if a paedo site googlebombed it's way to the first page of the search results for some innocuous phrase like "cheesecake." Link Scanner would "scan" the site, most likely red-flag it, but your IP would be in the logs as a visitor. Even if you didn't really visit, it'd be hard to prove innocence.

9th Jul 2008, 09:22	#19
konsta Multimodder Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: London Posts: 92	I have to say that I've completely lost faith in AVG over recent years. I find that when it does spot a virus, it is usually manifestly incapable of actually removing it. More worrying still was when I switched to Sophos that it found a reasonably significant number of virii that AVG had never noticed!