Antivirus and anti-spyware engine
State of the art scanning engine provides reliable protection against viruses, spyware and other forms of malicious software.

NEW AutoSandbox
Prompts users to run suspicious applications in the virtual Sandbox environment.

Real time anti-rootkit protection
Unique "on access" technology checks all kernel-mode drivers that the operating system is loading for signs of rootkit behavior. This enables even unknown rootkits to be detected and stopped before they can do any damage.

avast! Community IQ
Most samples we process come from sensors deployed throughout the avast! community in the Behavior shield and anti-rootkit modules. This is a unique source of data made possible only thanks to our huge user base. Most of the collected samples are analysed by a number of automated processes and only a small fraction of the samples need to be processed manually by our virus analysts.

New Code emulator
When a suspicious executable is encountered (during both on-demand and on-access scanning), avast! is able to emulate the program's code in an isolated environment. The code emulator is used for two purposes. First, it is used for generic unpacking. Secondly, it is used in the heuristics engine. Technically, this is done using dynamic translation, a method much faster than traditional emulation techniques.

New Heuristics engine
Starting with version 5.0, avast! features a new heuristics engine designed to proactively detect malware undetectable with normal definitions. The heuristics engine is able to cover both binary (executable) and script malware.

Potentially unwanted programs detection
New in version 5.0, avast! now detects potentially unwanted programs, such as remote admin tools and commercial key loggers. Custom rules can be set for dealing with these types of programs.

Features

• Antivirus and anti-spyware
  
• Ensures all mails sent and received are clean
  
• Keeps you protected from "chat" infections
  
• Stops attacks from hijacked websites
  
• Compatible with Windows XP, Vista and 7
  
• For non-commercial use only
  
• avast! Intelligent Scanner
  
• New Silent/Gaming Mode
  
• New Behavior Shield
  
• Real time anti-rootkit protection
  
• Smart virus updates
  
• avast! Community IQ
  
• Behavioral Honeypots
  
• Green computing
  
• avast! iTrack
  
• File System / Mail Shield
  
• Web Shield
  
• IM / P2P Shield
  
• Network Shield