avast 5.1 and avast 6 to pack more punch

[LunarWolf]

Avast 5.1, due next month, will not really have any meaningful differences besides improved malware removal/cleaning (I mean, it will have quite a few new features - such the 64-bit boot time scan and new stuff in the Behavior Shield - but none of these features are that related to the topic of this thread). V5.1's main feature is the central administration (i.e. a feature not really interesting to end users) - and it will also be marketed this way (as a corporate product, essentially).

Now, with Avast 6.0 (which is coming sooner than you may think), it's a different story. Avast 6.0 will feature the in-the-cloud heuristics based on the age/prevalence data (as suggested above by sded) as well as new stuff related to the use of our sandbox. But, instead of using the "default deny" paradigm that Comodo is trying to advertise so much, avast will work differently. It will rely on its heuristics engine to make decisions whether an executable file should run sandboxed or not. Let me explain this in a bit more detail. Currently, the outcome of the scan is pretty much binary - either the file is called "clean" (and is allowed to run), or it is flagged as "infected" (and appropriate actions are applied - and the file isn't allowed to run). This also applies to heuristics detections. Now in avast 6.0, the outcome could also be "potentially infected, use extreme caution" and this case, when talking about an on-exec scan, will (by default) be handled by sending the file into the sandbox. If the program is legitimate, it has a good chance of running OK inside the sandbox (and of course you, as a user, can always override the decision and run it normally). And if it's really malware, avast has just saved your butt.

There are many other minor things that make up these changes (such as further emphasis on the Behavior Shield when making these heuristics decisions, i.e. taking into account full context info) but this is, at a glance, how it's going to work. What may be of special interest, also, is that this is how it's going to work even in the free version (which means that the core functionality of the sandbox will likely be moved to the free AV).

Thanks
Vlk

Source : http://forum.avast.com/index.php?PHP...6016#msg546016

IMHO, they are good. Dishing out so much protection for free. I just hope they remain that way.

[Funkysourav]

way to go Avast Free!!
hope Avira too has something up its sleeves

[Ceyfer √]

Avast 6.0 will feature the in-the-cloud heuristics based on the age/prevalence data

Norton File Insight like feature ( file reputation )...very good!

Now in avast 6.0, the outcome could also be "potentially infected, use extreme caution" and this case, when talking about an on-exec scan, will (by default) be handled by sending the file into the sandbox.

Smart implementation ( reminds me of Defensewall ).

[Neo]

looking forward to it

cloud scanning is now in high demand

[JayCub]

Thank you for sharing the information LunarWolf i look forward to trying it out..

[INDRANIL]

Wow good news indeed . Let's wait and see . Thanks for the news Lunar .

[safeguy]

I've read and seen this before. It's really interesting to see what Avast comes up with and how they're implementing their sandbox technology later on in the Free Home version. Comodo fanboys will disagree in regards to the 'heuristics' method Avast will be playing at since they're convinced that the sandbox technology is arguably stronger and leaves the decision to the end-user (and they do have a valid point) but let's face it: it's not everyone's cup of tea.

Seeing that I'm using Comodo and Avast at the same time and I'm no fanboy, I'm just waiting for the development...if it's free and works nicely as intended for target audience, why complain?

[sujay]

Huge set of new features. Waiting eagerly to see those. Thanks to the head on competition between all AV vendors..