AVG: Behavior-Based Protection

AVG is one of the most famous antivirus software with robust protection that relies heavily on heuristic analysis (behavior-based analysis to determine risk level). Its protection is vouched for by multiple third-party testing labs, and its plans can provide you with many features.

How does AVG fair against its competition, and is it worth it? In this article, we will explain in detail the plans, features, prices, pros, and cons of AVG antivirus to help you decide on whether it's the AV for you or not.
 

Security and Protection

The primary point when buying an antivirus is how secure the product is, so we ask the question: Can AVG protect our devices from viruses, malware, and other causes of harm?

To answer that, we check the following regarding security and protection:
 

1. Third-party lab test results

Rather than taking the words of the AV creators for their own devices, checking with third-party labs and compiling an analysis report of different resources provides the best assessment.
 

• AV-Test scores

  • AVG Internet Security scores high on protection according to AV-test. It gets a 6/6 score on its ability to detect malicious ware.
     
  • AVG Internet Security scores 5.5/6 in the impact on device performance department, which means it won't take up your device's resources.
     
  • AVG Internet Security has a low false-positive rate with a 6/6 usability score. This means it's unlikely to mistake regular files for harmful ones.
     

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• AV-Comparatives
   

  • AVG Internet Security scores 3/3 stars (Advanced +) in the impact on device performance department, which means it won't take up your device's resources.
     
  • AVG Internet Security has a Real-World Protection Test with a 3/3 stars (Advanced +) real-world protection score. According to a test conducted with 758 domains/files, this score checks the detection rate of malicious files and domains.
     
    • AVG Internet Security had 10 false positives (false alarms), with the industry average in the test being 17. While successfully blocking 99.7% of threats.
       
  • Malware Protection Test: AVG Internet Security has a 3/3 (Advanced +) score regarding malware detection. This was done by testing 10102 Test cases with a 100% detection and block, with ten false positives (false alarms).
     

• SE Labs

AVG Internet Security was not reviewed regarding SE Labs, but rather the AVG Free Antivirus product, which is relatively inferior to the premium Internet Security product. None the less the free product scored amazingly.

According to SE Labs:

• AVG Free Antivirus scored (AAA) overall with a total accuracy rating of 100%.
   
• AVG Free Antivirus had a score of 750/750 with 100% legitimate accuracy, meaning it accurately differentiated the products classified legitimate applications and URLs.
   
• In terms of protection, AVG Free Antivirus detected 100 out of 100, blocked 96, and neutralized 4. Thus, earning a protection score of 100/100.
   
• AVG Free Antivirus had a protection accuracy rating of 395/399 (99%).

 
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2. Firewall and IDS protection

AVG Internet Security antivirus has firewall protection. A firewall's function is to monitor incoming and outgoing network traffic providing users with an intruder detection system (IDS) to protect users from possible threats that might harm their devices.
 

3. USB Rescue ToolKit

A USB rescue toolkit feature lets you download a rescue kit as a failsafe on your USB and use it later. If malicious ware infects your device and prevents it from even booting and reaching the antivirus screen, you can use the USB rescue kit to initiate a cloud-based cleaner. In addition, a USB Rescue toolkit can be helpful against malware that requires you to boot your PC to function.

While AVG used to have a USB rescue toolkit earlier, they removed this tool with negative feedback from users.
 

Plans and Features

AVG provides users with three main products: AVG Free Antivirus, AVG Internet Security, and AVG Ultimate. here is a quick summary of the features:
 

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1. AVG Free Antivirus

AVG antivirus has a free version that provides robust protection according to third-party test lab results contains the following features:

• Protection against viruses, spyware, ransomware & other malware.
   
• Dedicated ransomware protection for your important folders.
   
• Block unsafe links, downloads, & email attachments.
   
• PC performance scanning.
   

2. AVG Internet Security Antivirus

The Internet Security Plan is the premium version that provides users with more features in addition to the ones provided to the free version, such as :

• Behavior Shield – Blocks suspicious software behavior when detected on your PC and alerts users.
   
• AI Detection - Identifies malware to protect you from emerging new threats.
   
• CyberCapture – An auto-upload mechanism to update AVG’s database with any new threats that might have emerged recently for prompt analysis.
   
• PUA Scanner - Identifies potentially unwanted apps that you may have unknowingly downloaded.
   
• Real-Time Updates - Ensures you’re always protected by automatically getting security updates, bug fixes, and new features.
   
• Do Not Disturb Mode - Temporarily stops all pop-ups and app notifications so you can focus on your work, movie, or gaming experience.
   
• Silent Mode - Postpones AVG scans, updates, and popups so you can avoid interruptions while you work.
   

3. AVG Ultimate

The AVG Ultimate includes the AVG Internet Security with the addition of a tune-up tool and a VPN. 

The tune-up tool helps solve performance issues, including what programs slow down your device and if there are any just files or broken registry items that could reduce your device's performance.
 

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AVG mobile app

Along with the Internet Security plan, the AVG mobile app is available for Android phones only as part of the 10 devices.

In addition to the malware protection, the Android antivirus provides users with an anti-theft tracking feature to make sure you can track your device if it's lost or stolen. It also provides users with a camera trap to take a photo of whoever tries to open your device and sends it to your email.

The Android antivirus app provides a device cleaning function to help optimize your device and make it function faster.
 

Extra features

Among the major extra features provided by antiviruses, AVG stands as follows:
 

• Password manager

AVG doesn’t provide a password manager as part of its plans but rather as a standalone product.

Using the same password, again and again, runs the risk of getting hacked across all your accounts when hacked on one, while using different passwords runs the risk of forgetting them. Password managers are the perfect solution.
 

• Online banking

AVG provides safe online banking.

With safe online banking, a user would be able to do online transactions in safe environments without the risk of losing his information to a man in the middle attack or other attempts at stealing your data. AVG redirects users to real sites if they go to a fake one automatically, adding to the online security.
 

• Parental control

AVG antivirus doesn’t have the parental control feature.

Parental control allows worried parents to take care of their children and make sure they are surfing safe parts of the internet, and when are they allowed to do so.
 

• VPN

AVG has a premium VPN service under the AVG Ultimate plan or as a standalone product. AVG Secure Connect VPN is meant to protect and secure rather than bypass and stream geo-restricted content. It provides AES-256-bit encryption so your data remains safe, in addition to the 50-server locations you can connect from.

Secure Connect VPN can connect up to 10 devices at the same time. It is compatible with Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.
 

• Backup

Unfortunately, AVG doesn’t provide online backup.

The presence of encrypted online backup can give peace of mind, especially when sensitive documents are related to work, personal, and sensitive files. Furthermore, a user can find his files saved if the main files are lost with the online backup, which can prove helpful.
 

User Experience

AVG provides a great user experience for users, be it in the form of the scan speed amplified by the Turbo Scan feature, which shortens scanning time by skipping files it already knows are safe, the simple user interface, or the smooth customer support.
 

1. Ease of use

The user-friendly interface with a green smart scan button to start scanning it in the middle with surrounding icons to navigate the application easily.
 

2. Customer support

In terms of customer support, the following methods of contact are available for users when they need help:

• Knowledge base
• Blog
• FAQs
• Phonecall (premium support)
• Remote control of your device
   

Pricing and Payments

AVG prices per plan summarized in a table:

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Payment methods

AVG's Payment methods include:

• Major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover).
• PayPal.
   

Free trial

AVG provides users with a 30-day trial period to try their premium product to ensure they are satisfied with the product.
 

Money-back guarantee

In addition to the 30-days trial, a 30-day money-back guarantee is also available, adding up to 60 days of risk-free use of AVG until you make up your mind.

Final Verdict

Is AVG worth it? In terms of protection, it does the job well, based on the number summarized by three different third-party testing labs. The Internet Security plan covers the final possible potential threats that can arise by providing a firewall and extending the protection to the online experience. The major issue is the lack of customizability of their plans, with either 1 device or 10 being the choices.

That being said, it is still an ok choice. However, for the same price, you might get a better deal with Norton 360 by getting the same level of protection with the addition of many more features.