Avira adds Cloud Protection and Browser Safety To Free Antivirus

Martin Brinkmann
Mar 5, 2014
Updated • Mar 5, 2014
Antivirus, Security
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One of the first things that I do after I install Windows on a PC is to install security software on the system to protect it from malware and other attack forms.

Windows users have two main choices when it comes to that. They can select a free software, or buy a commercial product instead.

One of the free products that you can install on your system is Avira Free Antivirus. We have reviewed the premium version of Avira 2014 some time ago, and while it does not offer all features of the premium version, it shares several of the program's core technologies.

Avira announced today that it will add two new features to its Free Antivirus program.

Avira Cloud Protection was previously reserved to premium users but will be added to Antivirus Free in the next three months. We have reviewed a technical preview of the product back in 2012, and it has since then been integrated into Avira's premium products.

The application creates digital fingerprints of files and submits the values to Avira servers where they are compared to existing data.

If a match is found, a result is returned to the locally installed copy of the antivirus software. Files that are not in the database can be uploaded to the cloud server instead where they are scanned and added to the database so that all Avira users benefit from the scanned result.

Avira Browser Safety on the other hand has been available as a beta version for some time now. The browser extension, available for Chrome and Firefox, adds protection and features to each browser.

avira browser safety

When you enable the extension -- you need to install it separately as it won't be installed automatically -- you will benefit from the following features:

  • Safe Search - Can be opened with a click on the icon or by moving the mouse cursor to the small dark area that it displays at the top of the browser window. Safe Search uses Google, but adds verification to each search result.
  • Tracker identification and blocking - It will block all sorts of tracking scripts on the Internet, including most advertising scripts. You can disable the tracking on select websites.
  • Malicious site blocking - Blocks malicious sites that can infect your computer.

You can disable trackers on select websites with a click on trackers in the extensions' interface, a click on blocked, and the disabling of Ad Networks there. I'd appreciate it if you would so so here on this site.

Browser Safety is already included when you install Avira Free Antivirus, while Avira Cloud Protection will be made available soon.

It is interesting to note that Avira has made various changes to its free product to improve usability and the overall user experience. The company removed the pop-up advertisements for instance, and is no longer bundling toolbars with its product.

Closing Words

Additional protection is always welcome, especially if it improves a product and does not reduce usability of it. There is little to criticize about the update. Browser Safety is an optional component for now that you need to install manually to make use of, while Cloud Protection is an essential component that improves the real-time detection capabilities of the application.

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Comments

  1. George Melendez said on December 6, 2014 at 6:00 am
    Reply

    Avira’s Free new version14.0.7.468 was recently out and it work just fine. Before I continue, let me state that there is no such thing as the “perfect antivirus software” and we all know that. Avira might have it’s faults but the pros out weight them, I will now continue. Malware detection rate is always extremely high and it’s very light on resources. You also have various scans that you can pick from and most are quite fast. It also has a cloud based virus bank which is very useful. Set-up and configuration is simple and easy although the default settings are good I personally changed the “Files Have Been Successfully Updated” warning setting to on. I want to make sure that files are up to date. If the software detects a virus and it is quarantined you will have a report which you can verify and access the Avira Cloud Bank for more information. You can also access your Windows Firewall from the main Statues page which I find helpful. If you like, you can configure it with your special needs as well. All in all, the new Avira is very capable as a sound antivirus protection for the advanced as well for the non-geek and aficionado. After the installation you will find that there are 2 Avira programs on your machine. One is the Avira Antivirus software itself while the other is just named Avira which is your Avira Account that you signed in when you installed it. I uninstalled the Avira program because it was interfering with the Avira Tray Icon which would not open the Avira GUI and after I removed it, the icon worked just fine. So if you are looking for a good, easy and trust worthy antivirus take Avira for a spin. You wont be discouraged…… and all this for a price you can’t beat… FREE…… enjoy …

  2. Ros said on September 6, 2014 at 5:07 pm
    Reply

    Martin, you’re amazing! That’s exactly what I was looking for, and it now works fine. For some reason, Firefox was trying to block the download, but I trust Avira, so I said “go ahead and download it anyway.” Thank you very much for your help!

  3. Ros said on September 5, 2014 at 7:54 pm
    Reply

    Hello Martin,
    I like your article! I have Avira Browser Safety for Firefox on my Windows 7 computer. However, I can’t find Safe Search! Whether I click on the Avira icon in the upper right hand corner of my window or on the green pop-down in the upper center of my window, no search box opens up. I’m using Avira Free Antivirus. If Safe Search warns us before we visit a harmful site, I think that it’s a very useful feature. Again and again, when I use use other browsers like Internet Explorer, I am being infected with malware. Avira does catch it, but it is sometimes too late and there are many bad files installed by the time I am warned. Do you have any advice about how I can add the Safe Search function?

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on September 5, 2014 at 8:26 pm
      Reply

      Have you tried this addon? http://www.avira.com/en/avira-safesearch

  4. TRIER said on March 6, 2014 at 7:07 pm
    Reply

    AV software that scans your entire PC and automatically communicates (ultimately) whatever it chooses to the external internet/cloud — is inherently risky to the user. You have no method of knowing or controlling the process. You must completely trust the AV software, its software, and its current/future staff. Technically, there’s nothing preventing this type of software from copying the entire contents of your PC and transmitting it around the world.

    I think the major AV companies are generally trustworthy, but software errors/vulnerabilities are very common… even among honest businesses. Also, there’s the huge business/marketing impulse to collect ever more data about current & potential customers.

    Connecting to the Cloud is a risk with this type of analytic software.

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on March 6, 2014 at 7:28 pm
      Reply

      While I cannot confirm that yet, it is likely that you can disable the functionality if you do not want to use it.

  5. cornjob said on March 6, 2014 at 11:54 am
    Reply
  6. noone2 said on March 6, 2014 at 11:17 am
    Reply
    1. Martin Brinkmann said on March 6, 2014 at 12:27 pm
      Reply

      Yep I know, just wanted to add it to the article as it is quite positive nevertheless.

  7. Dwight Stegall said on March 6, 2014 at 3:39 am
    Reply

    I was getting really tired of those popups. :D

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on March 6, 2014 at 7:09 am
      Reply

      Yep. I do not mind an occasional ad if it is a free product, but the frequency was too much.

  8. theMike said on March 5, 2014 at 11:53 pm
    Reply

    if they’d ad a less annoying upgrade offer after the updates i might think about using it. even avast keeps their upgrade under control.

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