McAfee AVDCDE-AA-AA User Guide - Page 24

About VirusScan Software The new release also adds multiplatform support for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT Workstation v4.0, and Windows 2000 Professional, all in a single package with a single installer, but optimized to take advantage of the benefits each platform offers. Windows NT Workstation v4.0 and Windows 2000 Professional users, for example, can run VirusScan software with differing security levels that provide a range of enforcement options for system administrators. That way, corporate anti-virus policy implementation can vary from the relatively casual-where an administrator might lock down a few critical settings, for example-to the very strict, with predefined settings that users cannot change or disable at all. At the same time, as the cornerstone product in the McAfee Active Virus Defense and Total Virus Defense security suites, VirusScan software retains the same core features that have made it the utility of choice for the corporate desktop. These include a virus detection rate second to none, powerful heuristic capabilities, Trojan horse program detection and removal, rapidresponse updating with weekly virus definition (.DAT) file releases, daily beta .DAT releases, and EXTRA.DAT file support in crisis or outbreak situations. Because more than 300 new viruses or malicious software agents appear each month McAfee backs its software with a worldwide reach and 24-hour "follow the sun" coverage from its Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team (AVERT). Even with the rise of viruses and worms that use e-mail to spread, that flood e-mail servers, or that infect groupware products and file servers directly, the individual desktop remains the single largest source of infections, and is often the most vulnerable point of entry. VirusScan software acts as a tireless desktop sentry, guarding your system against more venerable virus threats and against the latest threats that lurk on websites, often without the site owner's knowledge, or spread via e-mail, whether solicited or not. In this environment, taking precautions to protect yourself from malicious software is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Consider the extent to which you rely on the data on your computer and the time, trouble and money it would take to replace that data if it became corrupted or unusable because of a virus infection. Corporate anti-virus cleanup costs, by some estimates, topped $16 billion in 1999 alone. Balance the probability of infection-and your company's share of the resulting costs-against the time and effort it takes to put a few common sense security measures in place, and you can quickly see the utility in protecting yourself. Even if your own data is relatively unimportant to you, neglecting to guard against viruses might mean that your computer could play unwitting host to a virus that could spread to computers that your co-workers and colleagues use. Checking your hard disk periodically with VirusScan software significantly reduces your system's vulnerability to infection and keeps you from losing time, money and data unnecessarily. 24 McAfee VirusScan Anti-Virus Software