Online Shield

Why is a legitimate website detected by AVG?

There are several possibilities how a clean and legitimate website may become infected:

  • Website was exploited by some hacktoolkit which searches for vulnerable websites, and automatically infects them.
  • Infection was inserted on the machine that is used to create/upload websites, which means that the author's/administrator's computer is infected.
  • An attacker gained direct access to the website administration thanks to a weak or stolen access password.

We recommend to contact the administrator of such website. In case you are the creator of such website, please review its code. If the website seems to be clean, please AVG Customer Services as described in FAQ 2216 and provide us with a link to the website. We will provide you with additional information about the detection.

 

Online Shield - what is it?

AVG Online Shield is a type of a real-time resident protection. It consists of two features - Web protection and Instant Messaging protection.

Web protection scans the downloaded files even before these are downloaded to your computer. This is done by scanning communication on ports TCP 80, 3128 and 8080 by default.

Instant Messaging protection verifies the files sending via instant messaging are virus free. Currently AVG supports the ICQ, MSN and Yahoo! protocols.

 

How can I change settings of Online Shield component or disable it?

You can change settings of Online Shield component following way:

  • Please open the AVG program.
  • Double-click on the Online Shield component.

1. Web protection
Following settings may be changed on the Web tab:

  • Check archives - Does Online Shield check the archive files (e.g. ZIP)?
  • Report Potentially Unwanted Programs and Spyware threats - Does Online Shield detect the Potentially Unwanted Programs and Spyware infection?
  • Use heuristic analysis - Does Online Shield use the heuristic analysis?
  • What is the maximal size of the file that will be checked by Online Shield?

2. Instant Messaging protection
You can select what Instant Messaging application, that are supported, will be protected by Online Shield component:

  • ICQ
  • MSN
  • Yahoo

In case you want to disable Online Shield component, please proceed as follows:

  • Open the AVG program.
  • Double-click on the Online Shield component.
  • Un-tick the "Enable Online Shield" option.
  • To confirm the settings please click on the "Save changes" button.
 

Partially functional Online Shield

If AVG Online Shield reports an error state "Partially functional", it is possible that some of its features have been disabled. Proceed as follows to fully enable Online Shield:

  • Open the AVG program.
  • Doubleclick the Online Shield component.
  • On the "Web" tab, make sure that option "Web Protection" is enabled.
  • On the "Instant Messaging" tab, make sure that option "Instant Messaging protection" is enabled together with at least one of the subitems (ICQ, MSN, Yahoo).
  • Click the "Save changes" button.

If Online Shield reports an error state and all options are enabled, there might be a problem with writing into C:\Windows\Temp folder. Please restart your computer, launch your web browser and open several websites. If the issue persists and Online Shield reports error state, please report us the issue using the AVG Diagnostics tool (self-extracting archive, detailed instructions will be displayed on your screen).

 

How to exclude some web pages from Online Shield component scanning

If you want to exclude some web pages from AVG Online Shield component scanning, follow the steps mentioned below:

  • Launch AVG program
  • From top menu "Tools" select "Advanced settings..." option
  • Select "Online Shield -> Web protection" branch in left navigation tree
In the "Exclude host/IP/domain" text field located at bottom right hand part of this dialog, you can define servers that should not be scanned by the web protection.

You can enter an:
  • IP address
  • IP address with mask (e.g. 192.168.0.0/16)
  • Domain name
  • Domain name with mask (e.g. www.avg.com/example)
  • Domain name with wildcard (e.g. *.avg.com or www.*.com/example) – please note that only one wildcard is allowed in a URL

If entering multiple items, place each on a new line.

Note: Excluding some frequently visited websites from the web protection can speed up downloading the website content, however, make sure that you only exclude those websites that
are absolutely trustworthy and safe!