Slashdot Mirror
AVG Backs Down From Flooding the Internet
Simon Wright writes "As a website that is featured heavily in many Google Australia search results, Whirlpool (Australia's largest technology forum) has been particularly affected by AVG's LinkScanner. We've seen a traffic increase as much as 12 hits per second from these bots. So we've actively and loudly campaigned against this move by AVG, encouraging all users of AVG 8.0 to uninstall the product. The discussion starts here. And AVG's backing down is posted here."
From that URL:"'As promised, I am letting you know that the latest update for AVG Free edition has addressed and rectified the issue that [Whirlpool] have brought to our attention. This update has now been released to users and has also been built into the latest installation package for AVG Free.' — Peter Cameron, Managing Director, AVG Australia."
The link scanner and web shield that caused the issue were an optional part of the install. As such they can be disabled seperately from the antivirus component. Thus once again, a knee jerk reaction condemning the entire product when it was only a new feature that was an optional add on was causing all the trouble. AVG is still good antivirus. I noticed increased load times and issues on the browser as soon as I installed it and disabled it quite promptly. Its most distressing that such a fine product can take a beating for a simple fix and mistake. Its not like they out and out tried to crash the internet or steal all our credit card numbers.