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To check system performance, we used our custom benchmark test, which measures how long the CPU takes to match 20,000 names and addresses in an Excel spreadsheet.

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Avast Free Antivirus: Performance and system impactĪvast's Free Antivirus is not only one of the most resource-hungry AV programs we've encountered but is also one of the slowest to scan a drive. We realize that Avast Free Antivirus offers a lot for free, but we recommend turning off anything that would result in your data being shared with third parties, even if that data is aggregated and anonymized. An Avast spokeswoman clarified to us that Avast no longer shares user data with third parties for purposes of analyzing broader trends in business and marketing, rather than for specifically analyzing the performance and use of Avast's own software. Those last two items sound rather like what Avast said it would no longer do. You can now choose whether to share threat data with Avast to share application-usage data with Avast to 'help us with new product development' to share application-usage data with 3rd-party analytics tools and to share application-usage data with Avast 'so that we may offer you 3rd-party products.'

However, there are a couple of new items buried in the 'Personal Privacy' part of the Settings. Based on Google's Chromium code, Avast's browser forces sites to establish a secure HTTPS connection if possible and doesn't allow extensions.

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Avast Free Antivirus: Security and privacy featuresĪvast's Secure Browser is intended for online shopping or banking, but you'll need to download it separately. Microsoft got 99% and 100% in those two rounds, while Kaspersky garnered 100% both times.įor SE Labs' January-March 2020 tests, Avast got 98%, same as AVG, while Microsoft got 99% and Kaspersky 100%. On the other end of the spectrum, Kaspersky consistently got zero, indicating a very well-tuned detection engine.įinally, Avast scored 98% overall in both of the last two quarterly rounds of 2019 evaluations by London-based SE Labs, which factors in false positives and how malware is handled after detection. In each half of 2019, Microsoft got 74 and 58, respectively, but suffered only five in February-March 2020 after AV-Comparatives turned off Microsoft's Smart Screen feature. In all 26 monthly tests carried out in 2018, 2019 and the first two months of 2020 by the German lab AV-Test, Avast (and AVG) spotted 100% of both 'widespread' known malware and 'zero-day' unknown malware 14 times, which is commendable.ĪV-Comparatives' tests elicited more false positives than AV-Test's, and Avast performed adequately, racking up only five in the first half of 2019, eight in the second half and five in February-March 2020. Third-party lab tests reveal that both deliver acceptable but mediocre malware protection. Avast Free Antivirus: Antivirus performanceĪvast shares its malware-scanning technology with its sister company, AVG.

The Avast Online Security extensions for Chrome and Firefox block known malicious websites and web trackers and examine webmail attachments, but the extensions must be downloaded on their own. Avast Free Antivirus also scans USB flash drives for malware. Suspicious items are uploaded to Avast's lab for analysis, and new malware signatures are pushed out to Avast's 400 million users every few hours. Avast Free Antivirus: Antivirus protectionĪvast Free Antivirus' malware scanner compares files and programs to a database of known malware and looks for telltale signs of an infection. It includes unlimited versions of Avast's Cleanup, Passwords and SecureLine VPN programs, which would cost a total $130 if purchased separately. Avast's Ultimate program costs $100 yearly for a single PC.