Avast Premium Business Security

What is included in Avast Premium Business Security?

Endpoint protection engine – File, Web, Mail and Behavior Shields, CyberCapture, firewall, sandbox.
Ransomware and data protection – Ransomware Shield, Remote Access Shield, Data Shredder and firewall.
Server and mail coverage – Protects Windows Server, Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint installations.
USB Protection – Blocks unauthorised removable drives, configurable only in Business Hub.
Web Control and VPN – Central content filtering plus unlimited VPN on Windows.
Important – No EDR, patch management, encryption or mobile device coverage.

What are the main benefits of Avast Premium Business Security?

Avast Premium Business Security is the middle tier of the Avast Small Business Solutions range and protects Windows workstations, Mac workstations and Windows servers. It can be installed unmanaged on each device or managed centrally through the cloud-based Avast Business Hub, and it replaced the earlier Avast Business Antivirus Pro.

Identical protection engine – All three tiers share the same antivirus components.
Exchange and SharePoint scanning – Server-side scanning without a separate mail security product.
Removable media control – Stops files leaving on unapproved USB sticks.
Remote Access Shield – Blocks RDP brute-force attempts without hand-editing firewall rules.
Deployment without console – Single-site offices can install per device unmanaged.
Verified test certification – AV-TEST approved corporate endpoint protection for Windows, 2025.

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Which company size is Avast Premium Business Security suitable for?

The product is built for offices without a dedicated security team. The decisive question is not how many people you employ, but whether anyone outside your company will ask you to prove how an incident was detected and analysed.

Does Avast Premium Business Security meet the requirements of Swiss cybersecurity legislation?

The reporting obligation introduced by the revised Information Security Act applies to operators of critical infrastructure, not to every company, and it has been in force since 1 April 2025. Affected operators must report a cyberattack to the Federal Office for Cybersecurity (BACS) within 24 hours of discovering it, with 14 days to complete the report. Avast Premium Business Security supports that deadline in a narrow way: the Avast Business Hub records detections, quarantined objects and device status, and exports reports showing when an infection was found and on which machine, which covers the first factual part of a report. It does not reconstruct how an attacker entered, which accounts were used or what data was touched, because no EDR component with recorded process telemetry exists anywhere in the Avast Business range. For the analysis a follow-up report normally needs, you will have to collect logs outside the product, for example through your own Windows event log retention or a SIEM. This text is general product information and not legal advice.

Does Avast Premium Business Security meet the requirements of European cybersecurity legislation?

No security product makes a company compliant with the NIS 2 Directive, because the directive places governance, risk management and reporting duties on the organisation rather than on software. NIS 2 requires measures in categories such as incident handling, business continuity and backup, supply chain security, access control, cryptography, and the security of network and information systems. Avast Premium Business Security contributes to the systems-security and access-control categories through its protection engine, endpoint firewall, Remote Access Shield, USB Protection and Web Control. It contributes nothing to business continuity and backup, because Cloud Backup is a separate add-on, and nothing to cryptography, because no encryption or key management is included. Incident handling is only partly covered: you get detection and alerting, but no root-cause analysis, no recorded telemetry and no guided response workflow.

What should you know about official assessments of Avast?

Two authorities have issued final decisions about how Avast handled browsing data. The Czech Office for Personal Data Protection imposed a fine of CZK 351 million in an appellate decision issued on 10 April 2024, for transferring pseudonymised browsing histories of roughly 100 million users to the subsidiary Jumpshot during 2019 in breach of the GDPR; the case was coordinated with other European supervisory authorities and all legal remedies have been exhausted, so the decision is final and enforceable. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission finalised an order on 27 June 2024 requiring a payment of USD 16.5 million, prohibiting the sale or licensing of browsing data for advertising purposes, and imposing an independently assessed privacy programme lasting twenty years. Avast's own position is that it shut Jumpshot down in January 2020 and ended the transfers at that point. Neither decision is a sales ban or a warning about the software itself, and the independent test results are unaffected: AV-Comparatives issued an Approved Business Security award in July 2024, and AV-TEST certified Approved Corporate Endpoint Protection for Windows in 2025, tested on Ultimate Business Security, which runs the same engine build as this tier. In practice this matters for public sector tenders and for supplier questionnaires that ask whether a vendor has been subject to a data protection enforcement action, where you need to be able to answer the question and give the dates.

Does Avast Premium Business Security help with security questionnaires from large customers?

Partly. It answers the malware and endpoint hardening questions and leaves the detection and response questions open. Answered from the Business Hub: whether every workstation and server runs managed anti-malware, whether protection status is centrally visible, whether removable media use is restricted, whether web access is filtered, whether the endpoint firewall is centrally enforced, and whether protection reports can be exported as evidence. Not answered: whether you operate EDR or MDR with recorded process telemetry, whether logs are retained for a defined period, whether third-party application patching is automated and documented, whether laptop disks are encrypted with central key recovery, whether backups exist and are restore-tested, and whether mobile devices are managed. To close part of that without introducing a second vendor, Patch Management and Cloud Backup are available as add-ons inside the same Business Hub, and Ultimate Business Security includes Patch Management outright, which is normally the cheaper route if you need both. Encryption management, EDR and mobile device management do not exist anywhere in the Avast Business range, so those points need a different product or a documented compensating control.

What is the difference between Essential, Premium and Ultimate Business Security?

The difference that usually decides the purchase is patching: Ultimate Business Security includes Patch Management, Premium Business Security does not. Everything else is about control rather than detection strength, because all three tiers run the identical antivirus and firewall components and are built from the same unified engine release. Essential gives you the protection engine and the console, Premium adds SecureLine VPN, USB Protection and Web Control, and Ultimate adds automated patching of Windows and third-party applications. Because Patch Management and Cloud Backup can also be bought as add-ons to Essential or Premium, the choice between the tiers is often a price calculation rather than a capability one.

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Which limitations should you know before buying?

Three limits cause most follow-up purchases. SecureLine VPN is not available on macOS, and Patch Management and Cloud Backup are Windows-only as well, so a mixed Mac and Windows office will not have the same feature set on both platforms. USB Protection and Web Control can only be configured through the Avast Business Hub, which means the unmanaged installation route removes two of the three features that separate this tier from Essential Business Security. Mobile Security was withdrawn from the Small Business Solutions range, so smartphones and tablets are not covered at all, Linux endpoints require the separate Avast Business Antivirus for Linux, and the older on-premises Avast Business console cannot manage this product. Backup is the limitation that surfaces after a ransomware incident rather than before one, because Cloud Backup is sold separately from every tier.

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Frequently asked questions about Avast Premium Business Security

Can Avast Premium Business Security be managed from an on-premises console?

No. Avast states that the Small Business Solutions range works only with the cloud-based Avast Business Hub, and that the older on-premises Avast Business console cannot manage it. If an internal policy requires management data to stay on your own infrastructure, this product will not satisfy it.

Does it protect Linux servers?

No. Coverage is Windows workstations, macOS workstations and Windows Server, including the Exchange and SharePoint server roles. Linux machines need Avast Business Antivirus for Linux, which is a separate product.