FAQ

LinkScanner is a new security component. It is part of all AVG commercial editions. You can find it in the AVG user interface and you can change its configuration there as well.

You can find 3 options when you open the LinkScanner component:

1. Enable AVG Search-Shield
   It checks the SEARCHED (using Yahoo, Google or MSN) web pages content.
2. Enable AVG Active Surf-Shield
   It checks the VISITED web pages content while the web page is loading.
3. Enable reporting of exploited websites to AVG
   This service sends a report about found insecure web page to our lab for detailed analysis.

The LinkScanner component can be connected with the AVG Security Toolbar, which is part of Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Internet browsers. You can read more about AVG Security Toolbar in FAQ 1188.

The AVG Security Toolbar is a new tool which works together with the LinkScanner component and checks search results of the supported Internet search engines (Yahoo!, Google, MSN).

This tool is available in all editions of AVG 8.0. If you select to install the toolbar during the installation of AVG, it will be added into your Internet Explorer and/or Mozilla Firefox. Please let us inform you that in case you are using some alternative Internet browser instead of Internet Explorer, (e.g Avant Browser) you can meet unexpected behaviour.

The AVG Security Toolbar can be used to control the LinkScanner functions and to adjust its behavior, and to update your AVG in case new updates are available. There are some another functions included in AVG Security Toolbar.

If you decide that you do not wish to use the toolbar, you can either skip its installation during the AVG installation process, or disable it manually in your Internet browser:

1. Internet Explorer

• use the mouse right-click on the toolbar and check-off the AVGTOOLBAR option in the list

2. Mozilla Firefox

• Tools menu -> Add-ons, find the AVG Security Toolbar here and click on the Disable button

Disabling or uninstalling the AVG Security Toolbar has no negative effect on the level of security provided by LinkScanner component. The only consequence of missing toolbar is an absence of some of the options, and less verbose information about the threats found by the LinkScanner component. The main settings of the LinkScanner component can be still configured in AVG User Interface.

More information about AVG Security Toolbar here.
You can find more information about the AVG LinkScanner component in this FAQ.

Note:
AVG Toolbar contains also a Yahoo! search box, which is an integral part of the toolbar and can not be removed separately.

There's also a possibility to set up Yahoo! as a default search engine in your Internet browser while running the AVG First Run Wizard. However that is not connected with AVG Security Toolbar anyhow.

AVG 8.0 contains a plugin for scanning of search results in Google, Yahoo and MSN search engines. This plugin (AVG SafeSearch) is designed for MS Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox Internet browsers. If you would like to disable it kindly proceed as follows:

1. Internet Explorer:

• Run Internet Explorer.
• Choose the Internet Options from the Tools menu.
• Switch on the Programs tab.
• Click on the Manage add-ons button.
• Select the AVG Safe Search add-on.
• Tick in the Disable option at the bottom of this window.
• Confirm changes by clicking on the OK button.
• Close Internet Explorer and run it again. 

2. Mozilla Firefox:

• Run Mozilla Firefox.
• Choose the Add-ons option from the Tools menu.
• Select the AVG Safe Search add-on and click on the Disable button.
• Close Mozilla Firefox and run it again.

While browsing web, you may receive a warning from AVG Search-Shield or AVG Active Surf-Shield. These two components are scanning the websites you are visiting or searching for, and provide protection against threats within malicious or hacked websites.

In the browser, there are two buttons which control whether these AVG components are active:

• Search-Shield - disabling this button will stop scanning of the search results in Google, MSN and Yahoo!, and also the scanning of Internet addresses (URL's) you enter into the web browser (either manually, or by clicking on a link on any website, in an e-mail, etc.)
  
• Active Surf-Shield - when you disable this button, active detection of malicious code within the visited websites will be switched off

It is possible that the AVG Search-Shield will fail to scan some link(s) when using the supported Internet search engines. Such link is then marked by question mark instead of the actual scan result. The reason is usually a time-out when trying to scan the website. This does not pose any major problem, since if you decide to visit such website, it will be scanned again by the Search-Shield and also by AVG Active Surf-Shield.

To clear the history of searched terms in AVG Toolbar please proceed as follows:

• Open your Internet browser (Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox).
• Click on the arrow next to the button Search in AVG Toolbar.
• Select Clear history.

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 contact our Technical Support and provide us with a link to the website. We will provide you with additional information about the detection.

When searching Google, AVG Search-Shield does scan all search results, including the sponsored links. However, scanning of the sponsored links is designed to retrieve the target URL address without clicking on the link.

The same applies to all other supported search engines - sponsored links are never analyzed in such a way that would affect the click counter and statistics.

AVG has recently been made aware of the increased web traffic that the new Search-Shield component of our AVG 8 product is causing in an attempt to notify users about infected websites. We have actively listened to the webmasters who have brought this to our attention, and as a company we have reacted quickly to solve them.

AVG made product modification to address the spikes that a few individuals have seen with their web traffic.
We have modified the Search-Shield component of the product (in program version 8.0.138) to only notify users of malicious sites. Search-Shield no longer scans each search result online for new exploits, which was causing the spikes that webmasters addressed with us.

However, it is important to note that AVG still offers full protection against potential exploits through the Active Surf-Shield component of our product, which checks every page for malicious content as it is visited but before it is opened.