AVG AntiVirus (previously just AVG, abbreviation of Anti-Virus Guard) is a family of anti-virus and Internet securitysoftware for the Windows, OS X, and former Linux and FreeBSD computing platforms, developed by AVG Technologies, a publicly traded Czech company formerly known as Grisoft.[1]
Overview
In 1992 at Czechoslovakia. the brand
AVG was first launched and its product was , "Anti-Virus Guard" by
Grisoft's In 1997, the first AVG licenses were sold in UK and Germany.AVG was
introduced in the U.S. in 1998.[2]
In 2006, the AVG security package
grew to include anti-spyware, as AVG Technologies acquired ewido Networks, an anti-spyware
group. That same year, Microsoft announced that AVG components would be
available directly within the Windows Vista operating
system.
The AVG Free Edition helped raise
awareness of the AVG product line.
AVG Technologies acquired Exploit
Prevention Labs (XPL) in December 2007, and incorporated that company's
LinkScanner safe search and surf technology into the AVG 8.0 security product
range released in March 2008.
In January 2009, AVG Technologies
acquired Sana Security, a developer of identity theft prevention software. This
software was incorporated into the AVG security product range released in March
2009.
According to AVG Technologies, the
company has more than 200 million active users worldwide, including more than
100 million who use their products and services on mobile devices.
Products
Versions for Windows desktop (PC) clients
AVG Technologies provides a
number of products from the AVG range, suitable for Windows
2000 onwards.
In addition to this, AVG Technologies also provides Linux, FreeBSD, and most
recently OS X versions of the software. AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 is available in free
and commercial editions. AVG 9.0 has identity theft protection through a
partnership with Intersections Inc., AVG 9.0 also adds white listing,
behavioral protection and cloud operations to their signature-based blocking. The
LinkScanner component has been improved to cut phishing threats further.[5] Version 9 was the last version compatible
with Windows 2000. The software adds the Resident Shield, firewall, and
identity protection modules.
AVG for Linux/FreeBSD
With version 7.5, AVG
Technologies is providing a solution for FreeBSD for the first time. AVG Technologies has
incorporated spam detection in addition to virus detection for Linux/FreeBSD
software.[11]
Various versions for servers
AVG Technologies also sells AVG
anti-virus and Internet security solutions for web/file servers or email
servers running either Linux, FreeBSD or Windows.
·
AVG Internet Security Business Edition provides centrally controlled protection for
workstations and file servers, e-mail server and Microsoft SharePoint server
protection, plus e-mail server based anti-spam protection.
·
AVG E-mail Server Edition provides anti-virus and anti-spyware
protection for e-mail servers, plus e-mail server based anti-spam protection.
·
AVG File Server Edition provides anti-virus and anti-spyware
protection for file servers.
·
AVG Anti-Virus Business Edition provides centrally controlled anti-virus and
anti-spyware protection for workstations and file servers.
Mobile Security
For Android
Antivirus & Protection
Privacy Protection
·
Mobile Performance
·
For iOS
·
AVG Family Safety
·
AVG PrivacyFix
·
AVG Safe Browser
·
AVG Vault for iOS
Multimedia
A joint project of AVG and
Israeli start-up Zbang, Multimi is a free Windows desktop and iPad app for
organizing and sharing content between multiple inboxes, social networks,
calendars, and media albums.
AVG Driver Updater
AVG PC Driver Updater is an
application designed to scan and easily update outdated device drivers on Windows computers.
AVG PC TuneUp
AVG PC TuneUp is an application
designed to speed up the computer by removing files that may slow down the
operating system and optimizing some of its settings. If a user does not
purchase this product when purchasing the anti-virus product, then AVG will
intermittently display popup ads to entice one to purchase the product.
Features
AVG features most of the common
functions available in modern anti-virus and Internet security programs,
including periodic scans, scans of sent and received emails (including adding
footers to the emails indicating this), the ability to "repair" some
virus-infected files, and a quarantine area ("virus
vault") in which infected files are held.
AVG Online Shield
AVG Online Shield is a feature,
designed to check files and ensure that they are safe. Only then it downloads
them on your computer. AVG Online Shield also ensures your safety while you
exchange files via instant
messenger and VoIP
clients like MSN and Yahoo! and ICQ.[17]
In response to complaints, AVG
announced that as of 9 July 2008 "Search-Shield will no longer scan each
search result online for new exploits, which was causing the spikes that
webmasters addressed with us",[18] releasing a new build on that date that
applies a local blacklist, then prefetches and scans only those links clicked
on by the user.[19]
LinkScanner Concerns
When AVG 8.0 was first released,
its LinkScanner safe search feature was shown to cause an increase in traffic
on web sites that appear high in search engine results pages. Since LinkScanner
disguises the scans as coming from an Internet Explorer 6 browser when it
prescans each site listed in the search results, web site usage logs showed
incorrect and overinflated site visitor statistics. The prescanning of every
link in search results also caused web sites to transfer more data than usual,
resulting in higher bandwidth usage for web site operators and slow performance
for users.[14] AVG initially said site administrators would
be able to filter the LinkScanner traffic out of their site statistics, leaving
the problem of excess bandwidth usage still to be solved.[15] Pay-per-click advertising was not affected by
the increase in traffic.[16]
LinkScanner
The patent pending LinkScanner
technology acquired from Exploit Prevention Labs and built into most AVG
products, provides real-time updated protection against exploits and drive-by
downloads. LinkScanner includes: Search-Shield – a safe search component
that places safety ratings next to each link in Google, Yahoo! and MSN search
results; plus Active Surf-Shield – a safe surf component that scans the
contents of a web site in real-time to ensure it's safe being opened.[13] Concerns regarding web analytics have made
LinkScanner a controversial component (see below "LinkScanner Concerns").
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