<s>
AVG	B-Application
AntiVirus	I-Application
(	O
previously	O
known	O
as	O
AVG	B-Application
,	O
an	O
abbreviation	O
of	O
Anti-Virus	B-Application
Guard	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
line	O
of	O
antivirus	B-Application
software	I-Application
developed	O
by	O
AVG	B-Application
Technologies	O
,	O
a	O
subsidiary	O
of	O
Avast	O
,	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
Gen	O
Digital	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
available	O
for	O
Windows	O
,	O
macOS	B-Application
and	O
Android	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
brand	O
AVG	B-Application
comes	O
from	O
Grisoft	O
's	O
first	O
product	O
,	O
Anti-Virus	B-Application
Guard	O
,	O
launched	O
in	O
1992	O
in	O
the	O
Czech	O
Republic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1997	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
AVG	B-Application
licenses	O
were	O
sold	O
in	O
Germany	O
and	O
the	O
UK	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AVG	B-Application
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
the	O
US	O
in	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AVG	B-Application
Free	I-Application
Edition	O
helped	O
raise	O
awareness	O
of	O
the	O
AVG	B-Application
product	O
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2006	O
,	O
the	O
AVG	B-Application
security	O
package	O
grew	O
to	O
include	O
anti-spyware	O
as	O
AVG	B-Application
Technologies	O
acquired	O
ewido	B-Application
Networks	I-Application
,	O
an	O
anti-spyware	O
group	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AVG	B-Application
Technologies	O
acquired	O
Exploit	O
Prevention	O
Labs	O
(	O
XPL	O
)	O
in	O
December	O
2007	O
and	O
incorporated	O
that	O
company	O
's	O
LinkScanner	O
safe	O
search	O
and	O
surf	O
technology	O
into	O
the	O
AVG	B-Application
8.0	I-Application
security	O
product	O
range	O
released	O
in	O
March	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2009	O
,	O
AVG	B-Application
Technologies	O
acquired	O
Sana	O
Security	O
,	O
a	O
developer	O
of	O
identity	O
theft	O
prevention	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
software	O
was	O
incorporated	O
into	O
the	O
AVG	B-Application
security	O
product	O
range	O
in	O
March	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
AVG	B-Application
Technologies	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
has	O
more	O
than	O
200	O
million	O
active	O
users	O
worldwide	O
,	O
including	O
more	O
than	O
100	O
million	O
who	O
use	O
their	O
products	O
and	O
services	O
on	O
mobile	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
7	O
July	O
2016	O
,	O
Avast	O
announced	O
an	O
agreement	O
to	O
acquire	O
AVG	B-Application
for	O
$1.3	O
billion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AVG	B-Application
provides	O
AVG	B-Application
AntiVirus	I-Application
Free	O
for	O
Windows	O
,	O
AVG	B-Application
AntiVirus	I-Application
for	O
Mac	O
for	O
macOS	B-Application
and	O
AVG	B-Application
AntiVirus	I-Application
for	O
Android	B-Application
for	O
Android	B-Application
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AVG	B-Application
stopped	O
providing	O
new	O
features	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
and	O
Windows	O
Vista	O
in	O
January	O
2019	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AVG	B-Application
features	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
common	O
functions	O
available	O
in	O
modern	O
antivirus	B-Application
and	O
Internet	B-Application
security	I-Application
programs	O
,	O
including	O
periodic	O
scans	O
,	O
scans	O
of	O
sent	O
and	O
received	O
emails	O
(	O
including	O
adding	O
footers	O
to	O
the	O
emails	O
indicating	O
this	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
repair	O
some	O
virus-infected	O
files	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
quarantine	B-Application
area	O
(	O
virus	O
vault	O
)	O
in	O
which	O
infected	O
files	O
are	O
held	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
patent	O
pending	O
LinkScanner	O
technology	O
acquired	O
from	O
Exploit	O
Prevention	O
Labs	O
and	O
built	O
into	O
most	O
AVG	B-Application
products	O
,	O
provides	O
real-time	O
updated	O
protection	O
against	O
exploits	O
and	O
drive-by	O
downloads	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
AVG	B-Application
8.0	I-Application
was	O
first	O
released	O
,	O
its	O
LinkScanner	O
safe	O
search	O
feature	O
was	O
shown	O
to	O
cause	O
an	O
increase	O
in	O
traffic	O
on	O
websites	O
that	O
appear	O
high	O
in	O
search	O
engine	O
results	O
pages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AVG	B-Application
initially	O
said	O
that	O
site	O
administrators	O
would	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
filter	O
the	O
LinkScanner	O
traffic	O
out	O
of	O
their	O
site	O
statistics	O
,	O
leaving	O
the	O
problem	O
of	O
excess	O
bandwidth	O
usage	O
still	O
to	O
be	O
solved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AVG	B-Application
Online	O
Shield	O
is	O
a	O
feature	O
designed	O
to	O
check	O
files	O
and	O
ensure	O
that	O
they	O
are	O
safe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AVG	B-Application
Online	O
Shield	O
also	O
ensures	O
the	O
safety	O
of	O
exchanging	O
files	O
via	O
instant	B-Application
messengers	I-Application
and	O
VoIP	O
clients	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
complaints	O
,	O
AVG	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
as	O
of	O
9	O
July	O
2008	O
"	O
Search-Shield	O
will	O
no	O
longer	O
scan	O
each	O
search	O
result	O
online	O
for	O
new	O
exploits	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
causing	O
the	O
spikes	O
that	O
webmasters	O
addressed	O
with	O
us	O
"	O
,	O
releasing	O
a	O
new	O
build	O
on	O
that	O
date	O
that	O
applies	O
a	O
local	O
blacklist	O
,	O
then	O
prefetches	O
and	O
scans	O
only	O
those	O
links	O
clicked	O
on	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2014	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
numerous	O
reports	O
dating	O
back	O
to	O
2012	O
that	O
the	O
AVG	B-Application
SafeGuard	O
Toolbar	O
installs	O
itself	O
without	O
the	O
consent	O
of	O
the	O
user	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
side	O
effect	O
of	O
installing	O
other	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
toolbar	O
program	O
appears	O
to	O
cause	O
significant	O
RAM	O
issues	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
considered	O
an	O
intrusive	O
potentially	B-Application
unwanted	I-Application
program	I-Application
(	O
PUP	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
installed	O
,	O
the	O
AVG	B-Application
toolbar	O
is	O
virtually	O
impossible	O
to	O
remove	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Consequently	O
,	O
many	O
discussions	O
and	O
blog	O
posts	O
have	O
described	O
complex	O
procedures	O
for	O
removal	O
of	O
the	O
AVG	B-Application
toolbar	O
,	O
each	O
with	O
very	O
mixed	O
results	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2015	O
,	O
AVG	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
start	O
tracking	O
users	O
for	O
profit	O
,	O
analyzing	O
their	O
data	O
for	O
sale	O
to	O
the	O
advertising	O
industry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2015	O
,	O
the	O
AVG	B-Application
Web	O
TuneUp	O
Google	B-Application
Chrome	I-Application
extension	O
(	O
automatically	O
installed	O
with	O
AVG	B-Application
AntiVirus	I-Application
)	O
was	O
revealed	O
to	O
contain	O
multiple	O
critical	O
security	O
vulnerabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
notably	O
,	O
Chrome	B-Application
users	O
 '	O
browsing	O
history	O
could	O
be	O
exposed	O
to	O
any	O
website	O
,	O
cookies	O
from	O
any	O
site	O
the	O
user	O
has	O
visited	O
could	O
be	O
read	O
by	O
an	O
attacker	O
,	O
and	O
trivial	O
cross-site	O
scripting	O
(	O
XSS	O
)	O
issues	O
could	O
allow	O
any	O
website	O
to	O
execute	O
arbitrary	O
code	O
(	O
as	O
another	O
domain	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
XSS	O
vulnerability	O
allowed	O
a	O
user	O
's	O
mail	O
from	O
"	O
mail.google.com	O
 "	O
to	O
be	O
read	O
by	O
any	O
website	O
,	O
or	O
financial	O
information	O
to	O
be	O
read	O
from	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
online	B-Application
banking	I-Application
site	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AVG	B-Application
team	O
fixed	O
this	O
by	O
only	O
allowing	O
"	O
mysearch.avg.com	O
 "	O
and	O
"	O
webtuneup.avg.com	O
 "	O
to	O
execute	O
these	O
scripts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
this	O
remediation	O
,	O
attackers	O
could	O
leverage	O
any	O
of	O
these	O
attacks	O
if	O
an	O
XSS	O
vulnerability	O
was	O
found	O
on	O
the	O
AVG	B-Application
sites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
April	O
2016	O
,	O
Web	O
TuneUp	O
was	O
still	O
not	O
available	O
for	O
download	O
from	O
the	O
AVG	B-Application
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AVG	B-Application
Antivirus	I-Application
Free	O
2012	O
was	O
selected	O
as	O
PC	O
Magazine	O
Editors	O
 '	O
Choice	O
in	O
the	O
free	B-Operating_System
antivirus	I-Operating_System
category	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AVG	B-Application
AntiVirus	I-Application
Free	O
2015	O
received	O
the	O
Editor	O
Choice	O
badge	O
of	O
SoftChamp	O
.	O
</s>
