Pest Control: Free Virus Scanner AVG 8.5

May 07, 2009

AVG Technologies has released a new version of its virus scanner for Linux as AVG 8.5. Biggest features are its malware protection, improved virus filter and on-access scanner based on the RedirFS filesystem.

The Redirect filesystem, RedirFS for short, is another layer between the virtual filesystem (VFS) and actual filesystem drivers. When Linux takes a file, the RedirFS registers it and notifies the new afvlt antivirus filter in the out-of-kernel module, which tests the file for viruses (on-access). The mechanism is said to boost scanning performance. The RedirFS developed by AVG Technologies replaces the DazukoFS that was long used for on-access scanning.

Further enhancements in AVG 8.5 for Linux include an improved heuristic for detecting new and still unknown malware. From this point on the virus scanner also handles system resources better and uses less processing. Thanks to support for 64-bit and multicore CPUs, AVG scales considerably better. The fully modular architecture should also reduce the number of necessary restarts.

AVG 8.5 for Linux runs on all popular distros and is available on the free.avg.com website.

Related content

  • Samba Antivirus

    Realtime virus scanning at the file server is an elegant and efficient option for protecting Windows clients. We’ll show you some tools and techniques for realtime scanning with Samba.

    more »
  • Virus Checkers

    So you want a virus checker? We’ll show you what we found when we toured some of the top scanners for the Linux environment.

    more »
  • KlamAV

    Linux may not be as virus-ready as Windows, but who wants to harbor pointless malware? Now you can hunt for viruses with KDE's KlamAV, a desktop front-end for the ClamAV Open Source virus protection system.

    more »
  • Trinity Rescue Kit

    Trinity Rescue Kit is driven by the practical requirements of the admin’s daily work, integrating a full set of tools for maintaining and rescuing Linux and Windows PCs.

    more »
  • Improved virus detection with ClamAV 0.94

    The latest version of the open source anti-virus scanner, ClamAV 0.94, promises to improve virus detection rates with enhanced scanning capabilities.

    more »
comments powered by Disqus

Issue 212/Features

Buy this issue as a PDF

Digital Issue: Price $9.99
(incl. VAT)

DevOps

News

Tag Cloud

Administration Community Events Hardware Linux Linux New Media Linux Pro Magazine Mobile Programming Software Ubuntu Web Development Windows free software open source