Posted on 12/02/2009 10:43:24 PM PST by BulletBobCo
I have Avast free anti virus on a computer and have seen what appears to be some false positive trojan horse hits. Has any other Avast users seen this?
Nope, you been hacked
I did. It took apart my Spybot Search & Destroy program by identifying it as a “virus”. I tried reinstalling Spybot and Avast wouldn’t let it even download the new copy.
So I uninstalled Avast and replaced it with AVG Free.
I tried reinstalling Spybot S&D but their site is so busy I couldn’t connect. Looks like Avast knocked out everybody using Spybot.
I may go back to AVG until Avast gets their act together.
I’ve had a few of false positives with Avast — probably two or three over the past year.
What I want to know is how Disk Doctor type outfits are able to stage those crazy pop-up window attacks without you even clicking on anything.
That’s what I plan to do. AVG works fine.
In the earlier versions they'd simply flash a blue/yellow warning on the bottom of the page, turn up the speakers, yelling that they found a trojan but now they shut down your browser, disconnect it so a false alarm can be much more than annoying if say you might lose data as a result. But I haven't had any trouble for two months or so now.
False AV positives are not particularly unusual. You might notify Avast about the false positive, providing a link to the problem file online if possible. The last time I did this, in response to a false positive from Zone Alarm Security Suite, they quickly corrected the problem.
If you want the truth is virus scans, “malwarebytes” and “Superantispyware” are two of the best (and free) utilities. If you can avoid it, don’t ever go to Google and randomly enter sites discussing viruses or offering “system scans”, etc.. On this topic, only go to trusted, reputable sites (Microsoft, Yahoo, Malwarebytes.org, etc.). Another great idea is to install an “add-on” to your browser, such as “no script” available for Firefox. It prevents scripts from running through your browser unless or until you “allow” it. This add-on definitely gives you an added layer of protection when site-hopping.
What kind of bad things can they do with scripts?
Yes, twice now. I posted about it before I saw your post.
I have avast, no problem because I don’t use IE.
Used it for five years, not single issue.
I got an alarm touting message two days ago!!!
I’m not pretending to be an expert but you can read up on it here (Mozilla Firefox “add-on” webpage): https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722
If you get a false positive, you can usually just wait until the next set of definitions are available. If an antivirus is flagging something used by a lot of people, they will get new definitions out pretty quick.
I had this problem with AVG and iTunes. They had a new definition out in a couple hours.
I’d say you’ve got a ‘malware’ infection.
I see a new database has just been installed, expect that'll fix it.
“I have Avast free anti virus on a computer and have seen what appears to be some false positive trojan horse hits. Has any other Avast users seen this?”
I also use Avast...No warning on my computer.
Several months ago I switched to MS Security Essentials for day-to-day and Malwarebytes for period scans.
Life is better now.
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