Author Archives: Avast Blog

The Anatomy of an IoT Hack

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The Internet is everywhere —  in your TV, your light bulb, and even your refrigerator. We are now living in the world of the Internet of Things. With all of our physical devices connected to the Internet, it’s important to understand how someone might access your information or violate your privacy through these devices. As […]

‘Secret Sister’ gift exchange is a scam

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Tis’ the season for scams to circulate on Facebook and other social sites. It sounds like great fun! Join your friends for a “Secret Santa” type gift exchange, and invite lots of others to the party. Only problem is that it’s a hoax. Watch out if you get a message on your Facebook Newsfeed (also spotted […]

DroidJack isn’t the only spying software out there: Avast discovers that OmniRat is currently being used and spread by criminals to gain full remote control of devices.

There’s more than one RAT On Friday, I discovered OmniRat, a program similar to DroidJack. DroidJack is a program that facilitates remote spying and recently made news when European law enforcement agencies made arrests and raided the homes of suspects as part of an international malware investigation. OmniRat and DroidJack are RATs (remote administration tools) […]

Avast Mobile Security: Now at your fingertips, 100% free of charge

In addition to the launch of the latest and greatest version of Avast Mobile Security, we’ve also got a few more important announcements about the app. The major news is this: we’re unlocking Avast Mobile Premium for every user! Information for current premium users Have you subscribed to the premium version of Avast Mobile Security […]

Avast 2016 protects your private information

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Avast simplifies how you protect your privacy with new products for 2016. Count the number of devices you own. If you are like most modern digital-age people, you have a smartphone, half of you own a tablet, and most all of us have a desktop or laptop computer connected through a home router. Now think […]

Avast achieves ICSA Labs certification

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We’re happy to announce that Avast Free Antivirus on Windows 10 64-bit has been certified by ICSA Labs! After being tested in the ICSA Labs Anti-Virus Certification Testing Laboratory, Avast Free Antivirus on Windows 10 64-bit has satisfied the requirements for the Desktop Server AV Detection module within the Anti-Virus Corporate Certification Testing Criteria. The […]

“Good Samaritans” return lost phones from Avast experiment

Twenty Android mobile phones were intentionally lost in The Lost Phones social experiment that Avast security analysts ran for 5 months. The story is about how Avast Anti-Theft was able to track the phones and follow the journey that some of them took after being found. But four of those phones were returned to Avast […]

How the Avast ‘Lost Phone’ experiment worked

We trust our free app Avast Anti-Theft to track down lost phones, but we wanted to put it to the test in a real-world situation. So five months ago, we bought 20 Android smartphones and installed three security apps on all the phones: Our free Avast Anti-Theft app, Lookout Mobile Security, and Clean Master. Each […]

Avast Wi-Fi Finder helps you stay connected wherever you are

Many of us have found ourselves in situations in which we need Wi-Fi connection and are unable to find it easily. Since we’ve become used to being connected to safe and steady Wi-Fi networks at home or in the office, it can become frustrating and inconvenient when we’re unable to establish a quick connection and […]

What happens to your mobile phone when you lose it?

That’s what we wanted to find out. Avast security analysts ran a five-month experiment to “lose” and track 20 mobile phones. To prepare the phones for the experiment, they activated three security apps: Our own free Avast Anti-Theft, Lookout Mobile Security, and Clean Master. They made sure that each phone was marked with contact information […]