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I used Avast! anti-virus in Windows for a while, and for a short period on my Android device as well. I found it to be pretty usable and friendly, but most func

I used Avast! anti-virus in Windows for a while, and for a short period on my Android device as well. I found it to be pretty usable and friendly, but most functions including anti-malware seemed superfluous or dubious. But it was nice and comforting to scan and find nothing. I had a subscription to the premium service because it had perks, like more devices and features and stuff. I gradually found that the remote features in the vein of "Find my Device" were trash and never worked. I could never contact my Android tablet with the website, or make any meaningful GPS search for it. I didn't once try factory-wiping it, but I basically assumed that it would fail in the very moment I needed it most. Fortunately, I never did require these features, and they stayed resolutely broken. Avast! changed something about the service and I decided it was totally not worth having anymore, so I canceled and uninstalled, then they charged me again (Google Play Store). I was able to go after them and procure a refund, but I was not happy about the casual consumer abuse after a malfunctioning product. Avast! is HQ'd in the Czech Republic, and I have mixed feelings about my cybersecurity entrusted to such a faraway foreign land that's close to the whole Eastern Bloc, so good riddance, and I guess I'll use Malwarebytes next time.

zoul 3y ago
Practically speaking, none of the security risks involved have anything to do with the Czech Republic – it’s a safe, modern European democracy with data protection laws better than US.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
  I believe you, I really do, but they are still a foreign nation thousands of km away, and the laws are different and largely unknown to Americans. In their HQ and datacenters, they would also be subjected to a rather different mélange of threat actors, and so an adversary that would have no chance in these United States, might have an opening to use Avast! as a vector, or at least exploit the juicy, juicy log data and telemetry they are able to collect with their root-privileged apps.
  - reportgunner 3y ago
    Who is the chairman of Avast ? Who owns Avast ? Americans do. Americans buying Avast is when Avast became this bad.
  - encabulator 3y ago
    Now you know how I feel every day using services from companies like Google and Apple that are in a foreign nation thousands of km away, and the laws are different and largely unknown to me :)
inglor_cz 3y ago
" I have mixed feelings about my cybersecurity entrusted to such a faraway foreign land that's close to the whole Eastern Bloc" Interestingly, I as a Czech have very mixed feeling towards security of anything coming from a big country such as the US. Big countries with a big national security apparatus can strongarm their businesses into all sorts of backdoors more efficiently. If anything, the former Eastern Bloc is sorta culturally more wary about trusting governments and giving them intrusive powers. We were burnt thoroughly by the old governments being too powerful. Westerners often strike us as being naive with regard to their own political class, and too willing to give up their personal autonomy if a suitable boogeyman is invoked.

zoul 3y ago

Practically speaking, none of the security risks involved have anything to do with the Czech Republic – it’s a safe, modern European democracy with data protection laws better than US.

NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
I believe you, I really do, but they are still a foreign nation thousands of km away, and the laws are different and largely unknown to Americans. In their HQ and datacenters, they would also be subjected to a rather different mélange of threat actors, and so an adversary that would have no chance in these United States, might have an opening to use Avast! as a vector, or at least exploit the juicy, juicy log data and telemetry they are able to collect with their root-privileged apps.
- reportgunner 3y ago
  Who is the chairman of Avast ? Who owns Avast ? Americans do. Americans buying Avast is when Avast became this bad.
- encabulator 3y ago
  Now you know how I feel every day using services from companies like Google and Apple that are in a foreign nation thousands of km away, and the laws are different and largely unknown to me :)

inglor_cz 3y ago

" I have mixed feelings about my cybersecurity entrusted to such a faraway foreign land that's close to the whole Eastern Bloc" Interestingly, I as a Czech have very mixed feeling towards security of anything coming from a big country such as the US. Big countries with a big national security apparatus can strongarm their businesses into all sorts of backdoors more efficiently. If anything, the former Eastern Bloc is sorta culturally more wary about trusting governments and giving them intrusive powers. We were burnt thoroughly by the old governments being too powerful. Westerners often strike us as being naive with regard to their own political class, and too willing to give up their personal autonomy if a suitable boogeyman is invoked.