Avira Internet Security

Description

Avira Operations GmbH & Co. KG have developed their antivirus products in Tettnang, Germany and began commercial distribution in 1986 with the product named AntiVir, the precursor of today’s Avira brand products. NortonLifeLock, which is now Gen Digital, purchased Avira in 2021 as part of a portfolio that also includes Norton, AVG, Avast and CCleaner. Avira Internet Security is placed in the middle of the Avira products structure with the addition of a software updater, password manager and VPN in addition to the basic protection against malware that is offered by the entry level antivirus product.

Beside that, Avira operates its own threat research lab in Germany and shares malware intelligence with the wider security community. The detection engine is regularly scoring in competitive ranges in independent testing by AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives, and finally the company has established its reputation for low false positive rate — legitimate software flagged incorrectly as malware — that is important practically for everyday use.

Malware Protection

Avira’s detection engine is a combination of signature matching against the company’s malware database and behavioral monitoring that flags applications that are attempting to perform suspicious changes to the system – writing to protected registry areas, injecting code into running processes or communicating with known malicious IP addresses. The Protection Cloud component is used for cloud assisted analysis of unrecognized files by comparing the file hash with the hash database on Avira’s server side, providing faster verdict on new threats compared to the local signature updates. Real-time file system monitoring includes real-time scan upon file access and upon execution.

Web Protection

The web protection component monitors URLs before they are loaded by the browser, preventing access to well-known phishing websites, malware distribution websites, and fake financial institutions websites. Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge have integrated the checking of the URL into the navigation process of the browser and added safety ratings on search result pages. The phishing protection makes use of Avira’s threat intelligence network, which keeps on updating with the emergence of new malicious websites.

Software Updater

Avira Internet Security contains a software updater that checks applications installed on the system against a database that contains up-to-date versions of the releases of each application so that it can find pieces of running software that are out-of-date because they contain known security vulnerabilities. The updater includes popular browser, PDF Reader, Media Players, and Utility software — the applications which are most often used to exploit unpatched vulnerabilities. One-click updating is a method of downloading the current version and installing it for any detected outdated software.

Password Manager

The Avira Password Manager stores passwords, payment card information, and secret notes in an encrypted vault which is synchronized across devices where the user logs into their Avira account. The browser extension provides autofill of credentials on known sites and creates strong passwords when creating an account. A password health report identifies weak, reused and compromised passwords by referencing known data breach databases.

VPN — Phantom VPN

Avira Internet Security includes Phantom VPN that will encrypt internet traffic and forward it through servers in Avira’s VPN network. Internet Security tier includes limited monthly VPN data, Avira Prime includes unlimited VPN bandwidth. The VPN is activated on demand from the Avira interface or automatically on unsecured Wi-Fi networks.

Firewall Manager

The firewall manager builds on top of the built in firewall on Windows and offers a more accessible method of controlling which applications can communicate over the network. Application rules set per application and the firewall sends an alert when an unrecognized application tries to make a connection to the network.

Device Protection and Privacy

The privacy scanner module evaluates system settings and browser configuration for privacy-related problems: Browser extension permission check, Browser data collection setting, Windows diagnostic data setting and Third-party app permission. The scan reports on which settings can collect more data than is needed, and includes links for changing the setting.

Security Integration for Mobile

Avira Internet Security subscriptions cover mobile devices as well as Windows — an Android app and an iOS app give malware scanning capability (Android), VPN access, identity protection, and safe browsing on mobile devices as part of the same subscription.

Performance Impact

Avira routinely scores highly in the performance testing which measures the effect on the system responsiveness of having real-time protection on — file copy speed, app launch time and download speed. The protection engine is able to run efficiently on the background process layer without a high CPU and memory overhead in normal use.