AVG 8.0 Free- Released

http://www.grisoft.com/ww.download-update

Discuss.

So far, i like the following things:

1. It has an adjustable speed for scanning process.
2. I believe it has a better database for viruses, I did find some minor ones
after i did a new 8.0 scan.

And i despise:
1. How "Vista"-ish it appears.
2. It just doesnt seem as fast/clean as 7.5.
3. I hate the fact that if you dont have all the options on, a big RED WARNING CIRCLE comes up.

Anyways, hopefully they clean it up a bit, i might change AV after a while..

I like it - mind you, I have the paid-for version.

The only worry I have is that, when I booted my PC this morning, I had a warning that the firewall was switched off.

Worrying.

TBH, if you have a router with a hardware firewall a software one isn't even absolutely necessary.

So I hear. The thing is, with a software firewall, I can see what it's doing. I like the comfort of alerts.

I don't understand hardware firewalls at all. What is it blocking? How do I know? Is it blocking anything I don't want blocked?

Beats the hell out of me ^^

AVG slows down my GW when it scans. I usually don't let it continue scanning unless I know I have a virus threat.

Haven't gotten the new free version, so I couldn't compare.

The firewall in routers block all incoming attempts to connect. Unless you set a DMZ (an ip where all traffic is allowed to connect to the device using that ip) or use port triggering or port forwarding, usually only for hosting web sites, ftps, irc servers, game servers etc. Some routers will let you keep logs of what ips are trying to connect.

It blocks what you want it to block. You tell it what to block.

I have mine blocking Anonymous Internet Requests, filtering Multicasts, filtering net NAT redirects, and filtering IDENT (aka port 113 being stealthed against TCP SYN packet requests)

Try and open this: http://4.79.142.206/

If you can't, your Port 113 is properly stealthed. If you can, it can probe the port, meaning it isn't properly stealthed.

I have all my unique ports closed off and ghosted. Check it out:

GRC Port Authority Report created on UTC: 2008-05-14 at 01:48:21

Results from scan of ports: 0-1055

0 Ports Open
0 Ports Closed
1056 Ports Stealth
---------------------
1056 Ports Tested

ALL PORTS tested were found to be: STEALTH.

TruStealth: PASSED - ALL tested ports were STEALTH,
- NO unsolicited packets were received,
- NO Ping reply (ICMP Echo) was received.


Port
Service
Status Security Implications

0
<nil>
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

21
FTP
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

22
SSH
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

23
Telnet
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

25
SMTP
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

79
Finger
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

80
HTTP
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

110
POP3
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

113
IDENT
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

119
NNTP
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

135
RPC
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

139
Net
BIOS
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

143
IMAP
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

389
LDAP
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

443
HTTPS
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

445
MSFT
DS
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

1002
ms-ils
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

1024
DCOM
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

1025
Host
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

1026
Host
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

1027
Host
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

1028
Host
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

1029
Host
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

1030
Host
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

1720
H.323
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

5000
UPnP
Stealth There is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that a port (or even any computer) exists at this IP address!

Thanks, you two

Rajah, what generated that report?

How's AVG compared to NOD32?

Less effective, and far more loosely programmed. AVG fails to compare, but alas, it is free.


Oh, those reports were generated using a webtool.

I will link you.

http://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?rh1dkyd2

The common port and service port scans are the best things to run. The other tests are more litmus like.

Oh, Gibbo's Shields Up! - I've heard good things about that.

Incidentally, I couldn't go straight in via that link - had to go via the main page and "Proceed" to that very same address

LOL Steve Gibson!!

Back from work, ran shields up - I'm fully stealthed

That's comforting.

Snograt, that's Gibson for you. He says things like that to scare people. He's a joke to every tech in the tech world.

I may grab this update simply to stop the pop-up spam i keep getting while still running 7.5...

A lot of people switched to avast because of what AVG has been doing with their 7.5 Free and how they've gotten so bloated.

I was quite suprised at how large the download was for 8.

Plus it screwed up uninstalling 7.5 and I had to poke around in my registry and all that to get 7.5 to uninstall cleanly, which, given I'm a jaded professional techie, I don't enjoy doing when I'm not being paid to.

And it installed its link scanning gubbins when I told it not to, so that had to be manually removed to get the big alerts to go away.

Meh.

So basicly, nobody likes it (free). I might actually pay for something.

No opinion-haven't used 8.0. However I used to use AVG 7.5 Free Edition before I had to get my computer fixed, the hard drive failed. It was ok-but after i did research on it, after i got my computer back, it turned out it was not the best anti-virus program out there. (Ok for a free version but not the best)

Anyhow-once your hard drive fails you lose everyone including yes, anti virus.

After I got my computer back i got NOD 32-I really like it a lot, it is fast, doesn't use a lot of memory, runs well, and has quick virus scans.

Try avast, I've only heard complaints about the skins, and you can get around them with a minimal install.

He may be a joke, but his port scanners are robust enough. They are a great way to check your vulnerabilities when it comes to ports.

No one approves of his scare tactic wording. Besides, there are a LOT that are far better than his.

Here's a fast Google:
http://www.auditmypc.com/firewall-test.asp
http://www.hackerwatch.org/probe/
http://www.pcflank.com/scanner1.htm
http://www.pcflank.com/pcflankleaktest.htm
http://www.pcflank.com/exploits.htm

Go with this Anti Virus imo, it's also free and is better than AVG by lots;

http://www.avira.com/en/pages/index.php

Better link:

http://www.free-av.com/

I love how all "security" pages can "find" me, but being on a T3, nothing can touch me. So funny.

Your computer is connecting to the internet at West Lafayette, IN, in the US, with an ip of 65.23.90.225

Your UserAgent is being reported as:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.14) Gecko/20080404 Firefox/2.0.0.14

Your IP Address is 65.23.90.225

Your Host Name is host-225-90-23-65.ussignalcom.net

A trace to your phone comes back with an area code of: 765


Ha ha, I laugh.

Tboxes are tons of fun. Hardline masking my actual IP is more fun. Having a corporate lvl3 IP is most fun of all. <3

Gotta love it:
21 stealthed FTP File Transfer Protocol is used to transfer files between computers
23 stealthed TELNET Telnet is used to remotely create a shell (dos prompt)
80 stealthed HTTP HTTP web services publish web pages
135 stealthed RPC Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is used in client/server applications based on MS Windows operating systems
137 stealthed NETBIOS Name Service NetBios is used to share files through your Network Neighborhood
138 stealthed NETBIOS Datagram Service NetBios is used to share files through your Network Neighborhood
139 stealthed NETBIOS Session Service NetBios is used to share files through your Network Neighborhood
1080 stealthed SOCKS PROXY Socks Proxy is an internet proxy service
1243 stealthed SubSeven SubSeven is one of the most widespread trojans
3128 stealthed Masters Paradise and RingZero Trojan horses
12345 stealthed NetBus NetBus is one of the most widespread trojans
12348 stealthed BioNet BioNet is one of the most widespread trojan
27374 stealthed SubSeven SubSeven is one of the most widespread trojans
31337 stealthed Back Orifice Back Orifice is one of the most widespread trojans

I have put one unstealthed port for communication with a corporate server. I won't tell though...

Ah yes, and here is exploits test. lolz.... I tested them all, for the lawlz.


Results of the test:

Exploits test
Danger!

Your system successfully defended itself from this attack!

My system has tEh Defenzzzez! lawl!

I have a funny feeling if people had good security like we do Tarun, they wouldn't have their GW accounts hacked by some twit German kid.

For those of you having hard times unstalling programs, try Revo Uninstaller, and CCleaner. Revo runs the programs normal uninstall, and then searches your registry and harddrive for remnants. As with anything that modifies your registry, make backups occasionally but I have never had a problem.

Anyways, I installed AVG8 about a week after it came out, installed the gianormus file, and scanned.......30 seconds later, it was done. I searched the settings, changed everything i could find, no change. between 28 and 40 seconds to search the 350k files avg7.5 used to take 2 hrs to scan. I refuse to believe its a thorough scan. Im sure there was a setting i missed, but couldnt find it.

Switched to avast, and dont really like it. Its a memory hog, and is broken up into a buttload of silly parts.

I honestly wonder how well these websites work for testing things. If they do simple pings to test ports or what exactly they intend to try.

They work like a hacker. They attempt to blast the connection with pings and unsolicited packets. They also probe ports and look for weaknesses. Honestly, if they get through, that isn't saying much for your security. lol.....

I don't think it's really that big on memory. I mean.. If my previous system with a puny 768mb of ram could handle it with no memory issues then any modern pc with the current standard of 2gb of ram should barely even feel it's there.

I have to agree with fenix I have used Avira (free) Antivirus and it worked quite well for me. It updates quite frequently and was not as memory intensive as AVG was.

I'm running AVG 8 pro because they gave away 1-year subscriptions of 7.5 pro last December and I got to upgrade free. With all the positive I'm hearing about NOD32 I may just get that instead when my year is up, instead of staying with AVG. I already know I'm going to pay anyway, so I might as well pay for the best.

I just tried that shields up site, and its cool ^_^

I did a quick test and my pc is extremely safe apprantly ^^

"Your Internet port 139 does not appear to exist!
Unable to connect with NetBIOS to your computer."

xD Il run a full all port one after food :-)

As for AVG 8 I like it, the design of it, will take some getting used to and i had to do a few extra things to set it up correctly. Apart from that i am happy with it.

"Your system has achieved a perfect "TruStealth" rating. Not a single packet — solicited or otherwise — was received from your system as a result of our security probing tests. Your system ignored and refused to reply to repeated Pings (ICMP Echo Requests). From the standpoint of the passing probes of any hacker, this machine does not exist on the Internet. Some questionable personal security systems expose their users by attempting to "counter-probe the prober", thus revealing themselves. But your system wisely remained silent in every way. Very nice."
yaay it passed!

Does anyone have a link to download nod32? I upgraded from avg 7.5 to 8 and since then my computer has slogged along at appalling speeds (with 2gb of ram even) Takes almost 2 hours to scan, and generally makes me unhappy. If nod32 is that much better I'd rather have it, and I don't mind paying for it either.

Plus, if it's not too much to ask, how do I stealth my ports? Cause my boyfriend keeps looking at porn on my computer and I'm afraid I'm gonna end up with a keylogger or something (already got a couple trojans)

Heh, top result on googling NOD32 - http://www.eset.com/

Also: get a new boyfriend.

Have you been to the Shields Up! site or one of the others posted above? That will tell you if your ports need stealthing or not.

Hmm.. sounds like the best idea.. partners should be enough porn for each other anyways.

That is why I don't let anyone on my PC.