Avira
Avira Operations GmbH & Co. KG is a German multinational security software company mainly known for their antivirus softwareAvira Internet Security.
Avira was founded in 2006, but the anti virus application is under active development since 1986 through its predecessor company H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH.
As of 2012, Avira software is estimated to have over 100 million customers. In June 2012, Avira ranked sixth in the antivirus market share report from OPSWAT.[1][2]
Avira's headquarters are located near Lake Constance, in Tettnang, Germany. The company has additional offices in the USA, China, Romania, and the Netherlands.[3]
The company supports the Auerbach Stiftung, a foundation created by the company's founder, Tjark Auerbach. It promotes charitable and social projects, the arts, culture and science.[1]
Technology
Virus Definition
Avira periodically "cleans out" its virus definition files, replacing specific signatures with generic ones for a general increase in performance and scanning speed. A 15 MBdatabase clean-out was made on 27 October 2008, causing problems to the users of the Free edition because of its large size and Avira's slow Free edition servers. Avira responded by reducing the size of the individual update files, delivering less data in each update. Nowadays there are 32 smaller definition files that are updated regularly in order to avoid peaks in the download of the updates.[4]
Advance Heuristic (AHeAD)
Avira products contain heuristics that can proactively uncover unknown malware, before a special virus signature to combat the damaging element has been created and before a virus guard update has been sent.
Heuristic virus detection involves extensive analysis and investigation of the affected codes for functions typical of malware. If the code being scanned exhibits these characteristic features it is reported as being suspicious, although not necessarily malware; the user decides whether to act on or ignore the warning.
ProActiv
The ProActiv component uses rule sets developed by the Avira Malware Research Center to identify suspicious behavior. The rule sets are supplied by Avira databases. ProActiv sends information on suspicious programs to the Avira databases for logging.
Firewall
Avira removed their own firewall technology from 2014 onwards, with protection supplied instead by Windows Firewall (Windows 7 and after), because in Windows 8 and later the Microsoft Certification Program forces developers to use interfaces introduced inWindows Vista.[5]
Protection Cloud
Avira Protection Cloud (APC) was first introduced in version 2013. It uses information available via the Internet (cloud computing) to improve detection and affect system performance less. This technology was implemented in all paid 2013 products. APC was initially only used during a manual quick system scan; later it was extended to real-time protection. This improved Avira's score in the AV-Comparatives and Report from September 2013. [6]
Partners
Avira offers its antivirus engine in the form of a software development kit to implement in complementary products. Strategic and technology partners of Avira include Canonical, CYAN Networks, IBM, intelligence AG, Microsoft, novell, OPSWAT, Synergy Systems and others.
On 4 September 2014 Avira announced a partnership with Dropbox, to combine Avira's security with Dropbox's "sync and share" capabilities.[7]
Products
Windows
- Avira Free Antivirus
- The free edition antivirus/anti-spyware, for non-commercial use, with promotional pop-ups.[11]
- Avira Antivirus Pro
- The premium edition antivirus/anti-spyware.[12]
- Avira System Speedup Free
- A free suite of PC tune-up tools.[13]
- Avira System Speedup Pro
- The premium edition of the suite of PC tune-up tools.[14]
- Avira Internet Security Suite
- Consists of Antivirus Pro + System Speedup + Firewall Manager.[15]
- Avira Ultimate Protection Suite
- Consists of Internet Security Suite + additional PC maintenance tools (e.g. SuperEasy Driver Updater).[16]
- Avira Rescue System
- A set of free tools that include a utility used to write a Linux-based bootable CD. It can be used to clean an unbootable PC, and is also able to find malware that hides when the host's operating system is active (e.g., some rootkits). The tool contains the antivirus program and the virus database current at the time of download. It boots the machine into the antivirus program, then scans for and removes malware, and restores normal boot and operation if necessary. It is updated frequently so that the most recent security updates are always available.[17]
OS X
- Avira Free Mac Security for Mac
- Runs on OS X 10.9 and above.[18]
Android and iOS
- Avira Antivirus Security for Android
- Free application for Android, runs on versions 2.2 and above.[19]
- Avira Antivirus Security Pro for Android
- Premium edition for Android, runs on versions 2.2 and above. Available as an upgrade from within the free application.
it provide additional Safe browsing, Hourly update and free tech support. - Avira Mobile Security for iOS
- Free edition for iOS devices, such as iPhoneand iPad.[20]
Comprehensive Solutions
- Avira Phantom VPN
- Avira's virtual private network solution for Android, iOS, macOS and Windows.
- Avira Prime
- In April 2017 Avira launched a single-user, multi-device subscription-based product designed to provide a complete set of all Avira products available for the duration of the license along with premium support.[21][22]
Avira Prime is compatible with Windows, OSX, iOS, and Android operating systems and related devices and is available to consumers in 5- and 25-device editions, dubbed "Avira Prime" and "Avira Prime Unlimited" respectively.[22][23] Subscriptions are in 30-day and 1-year increments.[22][23]
Discontinued Platforms
Security flaws
In 2005 Avira was hit by ACE archive buffer overflow vulnerability. A remote attacker could have exploited this vulnerability by crafting an ACE archive and delivering it via a malicious web page or e-mail. A buffer overflow could occur when Avira scanned the malicious archive. That would have allowed the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected system.[1]
In 2010 Avira Management Console was hit by the use-after-free remote code execution vulnerability. The vulnerability allowed remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable installations of Avira Management Console. Authentication was not required to exploit the vulnerability.[2]
In 2013 Avira engines were hit by a 0-day vulnerability that allowed attackers to get access to a customer's PC. The bug was found in the avipbb.sys driver file and allowedprivilege escalation.[3]
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