As stated about Windows in the Introduction at the start of this page, the same
is true of Anti-Virus (AV) Software and to an extent, all Software. There are
very many different brands and versions of Anti-Virus Software in use at the
moment, so we will not try to specify Configuration commands for each specific
brand and version of Software.
What we will be doing is to provide you with the Configuration option types, so
you can figure out how to work out how to Configure your particular brand and
version.
In general, you should specify the highest settings of anti-virus security
possible and reduce this level only if it interferes with your particular
software or Internet usage.
In this particular configuration example we will be using Symantec's Norton
Anti-Virus (NAV) 2003.
In nearly all Software there will be an Options page.
Make your way to this page, as this is nearly always where the Configuration is
done.
In our example, there are 3 main headings, with at least 1 sub-heading.
In addition, some of these sub-headings have drop-down lists of
sub-sub-headings (indicated by a right-pointing black arrowhead) themselves,
but in general the scope of these drop-down sub-sub-headings are covered within
the sub-headings.
-
System
-
Auto-Protect
In general, most Anti-Virus software will
have this feature. If it doesn't, then it's a poor quality AV software
indeed.
This option should be enabled
at all times.
The only exception to this, is only when specifically requested to
when installing software and only then after disconnecting from the
Internet. Personally, we would always recommend attempting the Software
installation first with the AV enabled and only disable it if you have
problems installing the Software involved, or problems once it's installed.
This option also includes details on how to respond when a virus is found.
In this area you should always specify the
"automatically repair the infected file" option.
The last option specifies what type of file scanning is to be done.
You should always choose "comprehensive" or "scan compressed files"
options, as these will ensure the greatest coverage.
There have been many virus' in recent times that have arrived via a
"ZIP" compressed file.
-
Script Blocking
Malicious scripts can arrive in a variety of ways, but one of the most
common is via a JavaScript script embedded in an HTML-formatted email.
In general emails can arrived formatted as Plain Text or as HTML. HTML
is prettier, but can be more deadly, as it can contain JavaScript code
that is triggered by various methods, including just opening the email.
Hence it's a good idea to set your Email Client (Outlook Express,
Outlook, etc) to receive emails in Plain text format. This option
will usually be located on the
Read tab in Options.
You always want to know when you've received a malicious script, so
the response should be set to "ask me what to do".
-
Manual Scan
As with automatic AV scanning, in Manual Scans you want as comprehensive
a scan as possible, with nothing left out. For this reason you should
always include Boot Records and Master Boot Records (MBR) in your scans.
Whilst configuring your AV software, you may come across the term
heuristics.
Heuristics is a way for the software to figure out for itself (in the
absence of a specific virus definition or signature), whether a file
contains a virus.
So if there's an option to turn heuristics on, it's a very good idea
to do so, as it's yet another weapon to protect against new virus', that
haven't yet been identified or protected against specifically.
-
Internet
-
Email
Under this option we have "scan incoming" and "scan outgoing" emails.
It's rather obvious why we scan incoming emails, but why scan outgoing
emails?
Many virus', worms and trojans infect email clients such as Outlook
Express and can then send emails to everyone in your Address Book.
Even more sophisticated virus', etc, can actually scan your Hard Drive
and email to any emails addresses that are found. This isn't hard to
do, as all email addresses contain the rather distinctive character "@".
For these types of virus', we need to scan outgoing email as well.
Under Advanced options in this category, we have "protect against
timeouts", and "display tray icon".
Displaying a tray icon is a good idea, as many virus' first point of
attack is AV software and Firewall software. If a tray icon is displayed,
you may notice if the "auto-protect" function has been switched off.
-
Instant Messenger
This is basically a list of the Instant Messenger programs (MSN
Messenger, etc) for which you may require protection.
-
LiveUpdate
LiveUpdate is Norton's way of updating the Virus Definition files.
Virus Definitions are the way that virus' are recognised; their
"signature".
Most AV software has some form of "LiveUpdate" software and as well as
being enabled, it should be configured to operate automatically.
One of Norton's few failings is that you can't configure it to update
the Virus Definitions after a set period of time. At the moment, the
automatic update period appears to be set to approximately every week.
Trend Micro PC-Cillin for example, can be configured to update every
hour, if necessary.
-
Other
-
Miscellaneous
In this category, we have such options as the ability to
"create backup file in Quarantine before attempting a repair".
We would heavily recommend setting this option on.
You can also enable plug-ins to Microsoft Office.
You can also set the AV software to let you know when the virus definitions
are out of date.
And last, but by no means least, you can enable password protection
for the Options you have set.
Password protection may seem a bit paranoid, but apart from stopping
your work mates, or the kids, etc, from changing the settings you've
laboured to configure, it also helps protects against virus' changing
these settings, such as Auto-Protect.
When it comes to virus', there's no such thing as being too careful.
Return to
Top-of-Page
|
