Avast is a popular Antivirus program that has a free version. To decide whether to install this program on your computer, we will consider its main advantages and disadvantages in this article.
Avast as a good alternative for Antivirus program
Avast is a leader in digital security products for businesses and users, protecting hundreds of millions of customers under the Avast and AVG brands. Avast Free Antivirus is a free security solution for home computers. Avast Antivirus has everything you need to keep your machine safe, minimizing the threat of cyber-attacks. According to the analysis of popular antiviruses, Avast Free Antivirus surpassed its competitors and was in the top three in terms of the least system load. Consequently, when using it, you will get both good protections for your computer and confidence in the performance of the OS. But this is not all the reasons for choosing this particular antivirus: the advantages include a user-friendly interface that will be convenient for both skilled owners and novice users. A convenient system of screens and the ability to immediately switch to any function is the main difference that characterizes Avast antivirus programmers.
Functions
Avast Antivirus comes with several tools and features:
- P2P protection
Avast includes an instant messaging protection module and a P2P (peer-to-peer) protection module. The list of supported programs is quite wide, including more than 30 items.
- Network Shield
This module protects against known Internet worms and attacks. It analyzes your network traffic and scans for malicious content. The module can be considered a lightweight version of the firewall (or IDS (Intrusion Detection System).
- Web Shield
Web Shield is a unique component of Avast that allows you to view and filter your HTTP traffic coming from Internet websites. Web Shield works as a transparent proxy; it is compatible with all major web browsers. Unlike most competitive solutions, the impact of Web Shield on the speed of the browser is almost invisible. This is due to a unique technology called “Intelligent Stream Scan”, which allows the Web Shield module to scan objects “on the fly” without the need for caching.
- Automatic update
Automatic updates are another key point in protecting against viruses. Both the virus database and the program itself can be updated automatically. Usually, the size of the update is about 20-80 kb, the program update is about 200-500 kb. Timely updating of virus databases and products is a guarantee of protection of your computer.
Advantages
- Control of mail, messengers, and P2P networks;
- The antivirus program is updated automatically and does not require any action from the user;
- It is possible to scan before starting the operating system, so you can remove viruses that infected system files before activating them;
- Automatic analysis of potential threats, so you can protect your computer from unknown viruses, Trojans, spyware;
- Antivirus intercepts all web traffic before it reaches the browser itself, which guarantees a higher degree of protection;
- Discounts for a one-time license purchase for several years and an educational discount program.