AVG forum: What can you say about this review by pcmag?

All firewalls are leaky and a dedicated and knowledgeable hacker will find a way in if they wished.

That said, we are minnows, and no-one will be particularly interested in us.

If you want to see how well your firewall performs, take the ShieldsUP! test.

But do not be concerned if the firewall doesn't pass all tests.

Your best defence, as is usually the case, is you yourself. Be aware of security, don't visit suspect web sites, don't answer or even read suspect emails, and scan everything that you download from the internet or copy over from some friends or relatives CD or memory stick.

Mark

"Your best defence, as is usually the case, is you yourself." Well said. I am a fan of AVG for years. I hope AVG will address these holes, bugs or whatever you call it quickly for the benefit of AVG and its users.

Untouchable101, did you try the ShieldsUP! test.? did you read Markflax reply to your question? I think not or you wouldn't be asking AVG if they 'will address these holes, bugs or whatever you call it quickly for the benefit of AVG and its users'. What i find more disconcerting is the lack of a response from AVG! No offence to Mark but he would appear to be a CNET moderator not AVG staff.

It was the weekend when the first post was made, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see someone later on.

Mark

Hello untouchable101,

AVG Firewall was never meant to be distributed as standalone solution.
Always only as a part of AVG Internet Security, which should be capable of detecting and disabling any malware that could try to target and disable AVG Firewall.

Thank you

What if the anti virus component of the suite is not able to detect or remove the malware?

Like this,

"I tested the program control
system with a dozen leak tests, programs that evade normal program
control using malware-style techniques. They evaded AVG quite well; it
only recognized that one of them was attempting an Internet connection."

"AVG remains vulnerable to a
simple attack that a malware coder could easily devise to turn off its
protection. All that's needed is to set the startup status of AVG's
essential Windows services to disabled and the force a reboot."

PCmag

Please dont be offended. This is a constructive cricism.

that an anti-virus suite, whether or not it incorporates a firewall, is only one part of our security weapons against malware attacks. They are but one weapon in our arsenal.

This applies to all anti-virus suites.

That is why we add other weapons to our list.

For me I also have two other stand-alone anti-malware scanners that I use once a week each. They compliment my anti-virus/firewall.

How did you get on with your own ShieldsUP! test? You may see reviews stating this, that, and the other, but it is your own computer that is important and so it falls to you to do all the testing and scanning to keep your system as free as possible from such threats.

Mark

I received failed results but it is also stated that my ports are closed. Why is that? Is that ok?

Those tests should tell you what the results mean anyway, but 'closed ports' are great. That means hackers cannot use them.

Better ones are 'hidden' ports. That means hackers cannot even see them to try and get into them.

So, does that make this "failed results" better to understand and accept?

Mark