Avira Security Antivirus & VPN Free Download v7.26.3

CONS

• Many features require payment for full functionality
• Poor scores in some hands-on tests

Avira Crypto

I first reviewed this app in the summer of 2021, a few months before the release of the Avira Antivirus Free download for Windows 7 Ethereum-mining component. In any case, none of my test systems has the hardware needed to run this component or its close cousin Norton Crypto. My test systems either had the wrong video card, too little video RAM, or both.

You won’t even see Avira Crypto unless your system meets the stringent requirements. I checked with Avira’s parent company Norton for details on the hardware requirements. First, if you have an AMD Radeon video card, it must be in the 5000 or 6000 series. If it’s nVidia, it can only be 1000, 2000, or 3000 series. No other card will do. The card must have a minimum of 6GB of video RAM. Looking at the Properties dialogue for your video card you’ll see four figures: Total Available Graphics Memory, Dedicated Video Memory, System Video Memory, and Shared Video Memory. The only one that matters is Dedicated Video Memory. If that’s not 6GB or better, no crypto for you. Note, too, that Avira Crypto is only available in the US, UK, and Canada.

Even if you have a GPU powerful enough to run Avira Antivirus Free download for Windows 10 it’s not clear you should. You may reject it out of hand if you consider cryptocurrency to be earth-destroying or otherwise evil. You pay a 15% cut to Avira (and thence to Norton) for the privilege of having the app manage your Ethereum, and you typically pay another fee to withdraw or transfer your earnings. Some experts believe that the added electricity cost of cranking your GPU negates any profit you might make. Norton, on the other hand, gets its 15% cut without any corresponding expenditure.

Like Norton Crypto, Avira free Antivirus for Android does nothing at all unless your computer meets the criteria and you opt into mining. Some angry Norton users have tried to cauterize all possibilities of activation by destroying the mining app itself, the file NCrypt.exe. That file is present in all Norton 360 installations, even those with insufficient GPU power. The corresponding Avira Crypto file, lyrically named Avira.Spotlight.CryptoMiner.exe, only gets installed if your system makes the grade hardware-wise and you choose to enable Avira Crypto. And where Norton’s Tamper Protection makes deleting the file tough, Avira does not yet have a similar self-defence feature.

If Avira doesn’t offer you Avira Crypto, you don’t have to even think about it. If your GPU has the needed power, you probably won’t gain much by enabling Ethereum mining, except to put that 15% into Norton’s coffers. At least in the case of Avira’s free security, you’re not already paying to install the underlying application that tries to interest you in crypto-mining.

Avira Security Antivirus & VPN  MOD APK  Premium Lab Results Down From Perfect

To supplement my hands-on testing of Avira Antivirus Free download for Windows 7, I turn to reports issued regularly by four independent labs around the world. The mere fact that a given product appears in a report means that the lab’s experts thought it significant enough to merit the effort of testing and reporting on it. The more lab results the better, and, of course, high scores are important. When last reviewed, Avira had perfect scores from all four labs. It still has four lab scores, but at present, they’re not perfect.

Researchers at AV-Test Institute evaluate each antivirus product on three distinct criteria. Naturally, they measure its ability to protect against malware. They also score products on how well they avoid erroneously flagging legitimate processes as malicious, an index they call usability. And they ensure the product does all this without dragging down performance. A product can earn up to six points for each of the three criteria. A third of the products tested, among them Avast, Kaspersky, and Norton earned sixes in all three categories.

Avira had perfect scores when last reviewed, but in the latest report, it came in near the bottom, with 5.0 for protection, 5.5 for performance, and 6.0 for usability, for a total of 16.5. Only eScan, PC Matic Home, and Vipre Antivirus Plus scored lower.

Of the many reports coming out of AV-Comparatives, I follow three. This lab doesn’t use numbers. Rather, a product that passes the test earns Standard certification. Those that go beyond the basics can earn Advanced or Advanced+ certification. Bitdefender is the only product I follow that managed three Advanced+ ratings in the latest tests. Like Panda Free Antivirus, G Data, and several others, Avira earned one Standard, one Advanced, and one Advanced+ certification this time around.

With SE Labs, certification comes in five levels: AAA, AA, A, B, and C. Like almost all the tested products, Avira earned the top level, AAA.

As you can see, most of the labs offer a range of scores to reflect a range of capabilities. Tests by London-based MRG-Effitas are scored differently. In this lab’s reports, a product either exhibits near-perfect protection or fails utterly. I follow one test that focuses on banking Trojans and another that tests all-around malware defence. Out of 11 tested products, only Bitdefender, ESET NOD32 Antivirus, and Norton passed both tests. Avira passed the banking Trojans test but failed the all-around protection test.

Since all the labs use different scoring systems, I’ve devised an algorithm that maps the scores onto a 10-point scale and generates an aggregate score. When last reviewed, Avira held a perfect 10 points. This time around, its aggregate score is 9.0. That’s decent, but it’s still quite a drop. Kaspersky holds the current top score, 9.9 points. Like Kaspersky and Avira, Avast appears in reports from all four labs. Its scores combine into an impressive 9.5-point aggregate.

Poor Malware Removal Scores

Lab results notwithstanding, I always perform my hands-on tests. I start by opening a folder of malware samples that I’ve curated and analyzed myself. Avira immediately started quarantining those that it recognized. It eliminated just 66 per cent of the samples on sight, which is pretty low. Kaspersky and Bitdefender both wiped out 86 per cent of the samples at this stage. On the plus side, Avira eliminated every ransomware sample except one less-worrisome screen locker type. After recording Avira’s initial reaction, I launched the samples that made it past this initial culling.

When Avira’s real-time protection detected malware attempting to install, it popped up a notification and opened a tiny progress meter labelled Luke Filewalker, representing the product’s progress in cleaning up any malware traces that may have landed on the system. Avira has used this whimsical name for more years than I can count. George Lucas doesn’t mind.

In the end, Avira detected 87 per cent of the samples and scored 8.2 out of 10 possible points. Among products tested with the current malware collection, only Heimdal Premium Security Home scored fractionally lower. And unlike when I last reviewed it, Avira doesn’t have perfect lab scores as a counterweight.

Among other current products, Malwarebytes did best, with 100 per cent detection and a perfect 10 points. McAfee and Webroot were close behind with 9.9 and 9.8 points respectively. Tested using my previous sample set, Sophos Home Free also detected every sample and scored a respectable 9.8.

A full scan of my standard clean test system took an hour and three minutes, just slightly faster than the current average. This first scan performed some optimizations, as a repeat scan finished in just 15 minutes. As for the quick scan, it finished in less than half a minute.

Phishing is completely platform-independent. If you can browse the web on your internet-aware lawnmower, you can give up your login credentials there just as easily as on your computer. However, third-party phishing protection isn’t necessarily the same from platform to platform. Some products earn wildly different scores on Windows than on macOS. Avira shields you from fraud in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Opera, regardless of the operating system. Tested at the same time, Avira Free Antivirus for Mac earned precisely the same score.

While it’s good to use software that protects you from phishing, you should also know what to do to protect yourself. For tips on how to do so, you can read How to Avoid Phishing Scams.

Security Features

The Security page is your go-to for launching and scheduling antivirus scans. In addition to the expected quick and full scan, you can schedule fine-tuned choices such as just scanning for rootkits or just scanning the My Documents folder. To see all the malware Avira has caught, click to view Quarantine. Here you can permanently delete found threats or, in the very unlikely event of a false positive, restore legitimate programs that got quarantined.

Conclusion:

Avira Security Antivirus & VPN Free Download v7.26.3 goes beyond basic antivirus with dozens of security-related utilities. However, many require payment for full functionality.