This site is for Avast Business products only. For articles on AVG Business products, see AVG Business Help. If you are in the right place but cannot find what you are looking for, please contact Avast Business Support for further assistance.

Webcam Shield

This Article Applies to:

  • Avast Business Hub

 

Webcam Shield is designed to prevent applications and malware from accessing the PC's webcam and microphone without user consent. With Webcam Shield enabled, untrusted applications cannot capture images or videos and send the content outside of the PC to compromise user privacy.

To determine which applications are trusted and untrusted, Avast Reputation Services analyze the application based on several factors, including how many users have the application installed and the application's certification information.

This component is available for Windows workstations only.

Configuring Webcam Shield Settings

To access Webcam Shield settings:

  1. Open the Policies page
  2. Click the desired policy to open its Detail drawer
  3. Click the Settings tab, then Antivirus
  4. Expand the Webcam Shield section (under Identity Protection)

Enabling the Shield my microphone option under the Microphone section is designed to protect the end device's microphone from unauthorized access and misuse.

 

Under the Mode section, you can choose which mode Webcam Shield will use:

  • Smart Mode (default): Automatically allows trusted applications to access the webcam. If an untrusted application attempts to access the webcam, a notification appears asking the user to allow or block the application. After selecting an option, the application appears on the Blocked & Allowed Apps list where its status can be seen and additional actions selected.
  • Strict Mode: Notifies every time any application attempts to access the webcam and allows the user to decide if the application is blocked or allowed. After selecting an option, the application appears on the Blocked & Allowed Apps list where its status can be seen and additional actions selected
  • Disabled Webcam Mode: Notifies every time any application attempts to access the webcam and automatically blocks it.

To apply the policy 's Webcam access rules to your endpoints regardless of their local configuration, tick the Override the application list set by the end user checkbox at the bottom of the Mode section.

Under the Applications section, you can make a list of apps that will be blocked or allowed by Webcam Shield:

  1. Click the + Add application button
  2. Enter the application path
  3. Choose whether the application should be blocked or allowed
  4. Click Add application

Clicking Show system path variables in the dialog above will show all accepted system variables, and the tooltips will provide more information:

Clicking any listed variable will automatically add it to the Application Path field.