The new avast! 6.0 will provide no-hassle ‘virtualization’ to all users, giving them even greater security. AutoSandbox is the first time that a free antivirus will offer virtualization technology together with outstanding malware detection.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic, January 24, 2011 – AVAST Software is including an array of new technologies in its soon-to-be released avast! 6.0, including virtualization technology for all of its free users.
“AVAST is so committed to free, we are providing all of our users with this virtualization technology for free,” says Ondrej Vlcek, CTO of AVAST Software. “It is not always certain that an item is 100 percent clean but with AutoSandbox virtualization, we’ve created a safe space between the known good and bad content which will make life safer for all avast users – whether they are using our free or paid-for products.”
Virtualization technology enables people to create a ‘virtual’ computer inside their physical machine. If they encounter malware while browsing the internet or running an infected application, the virtual computer will shut down, leaving their real computer unharmed and running. “Most viruses are spread through executable commands and scripts are the entry point. By isolating the binary in a virtual computer, the real machine stays clean,” explains Mr. Vlcek.
avast! 6.0 will bring automatic virtualization technology to all free users
AutoSandbox, a free virtualized environment for testing suspicious code, makes virtualization an easy one-click choice. “Virtualization has the potential to significantly increase user safety, but people have been slow to adopt this technology—even when it’s a part of their antivirus package,” says Mr. Vlcek. “AutoSandbox shifts virtualization from being an ‘IT geek’ specialty to an automatic, easily accessible safety feature for all avast users.”
AutoSandbox identifies and prompts users to run suspicious applications in a safe virtual environment. Users have three options: execute the file within the virtual AutoSandbox, run it outside the sandbox, or cancel running the application entirely. “It’s a win-win for users, if the item is dangerous it just shuts down the virtual computer and the user’s real machine remains safe. And, if the item is safe, there is no hassle from a false positive,” adds Mr. Vlcek.
The new feature will be available at no cost to all avast! users – including those with avast! Free Antivirus, Pro Antivirus, and the premium Internet Security suite.
Is the pirate talk in this version?
That was my favourite part of Avast 5, you wouldn’t believe the amount of arguments were solved by just listening to the update sound. ;D
Although I didn’t say I gave up on them, that was just a quick test that I did and liked to share. I personally believe that’s the whole purpose of any BETA stage
;D I tried to spice the topic up a bit by doing a quick test … , and no I’m not interested in reporting anything because I have nothing to report< rootkit bypassed their sandbox , LOL that’s the case since v5 I presumed that people had already reported it , unless they are not testing the products that they use, which is not the case here.
the auto sandbox works now for those who want to try it out!
And new in v6.0.945
- fixed a bug in the AutoSandbox decision logic
- improved installation of the Firefox WebRep plugin
- fixed the transient cache in File System Shield
- improved installation of the VC redistributable packages
- some improvements in the Sidebar gadget (cosmetic issues still to be solved)
- fixed a bug in the Autosandbox/FS Shield settings
- more stability improvements in the sandbox and behavior shield
There was a bug in the first beta that prevented the autosandbox from kicking in for files located on local hard drives... this should now be fixed (and there will be another beta refresh in about 1 hour).
Sorry for the inconvenience; I admit that this was pretty unfortunate as many people were curious about how the autosandbox would perform, and it wasn’t really doing much.
Things should hopefully improve momentarily, and will keep improving even more.
There Quote “AutoSandbox is the first time that a free antivirus will offer virtualization technology together with outstanding malware detection.”
As i know Comodo given first auto-sandboxing
, I disabled the system shield to assume a zero-day malware scenario.