McAfee AVDCDE-AA-AA User Guide - Page 253

Using Specialized 8 Scanning Tools 8 Scanning Microsoft Exchange and Outlook mail VirusScan software provides you with two complementary methods to protect your Microsoft Exchange or Outlook e-mail system: • The VShield scanner includes an E-Mail Scan module that runs continuous background scan operations on e-mail as it arrives on your server. • The E-Mail Scan extension allows you to scan your mailbox on the Exchange server at your own initiative, and at times convenient for you. An unobtrusive plug-in architecture gives you access to the E-Mail Scan extension from directly within your Exchange or Outlook client application. When and why you should use the E-Mail Scan extension Most of the fastest-spreading viruses, worms, and other hostile agents that have emerged in the last few years have proliferated via e-mail. E-mail offers a fast and omnipresent medium that virus writers can use to distribute infected attachments, which they often trick users into opening and activating. Newer viruses, as VBS/BUBBLEBOY demonstrated, might even be able to work without users having to open or read even the e-mail message itself. The Microsoft Exchange and Outlook e-mail clients are particularly vulnerable to infections of this sort because of their powerful macro and script interpretation capabilities. As with the rest of the Microsoft Office application suite, the Exchange client software makes extensive use of macros, marked-up text, script commands, and similar capabilities that lend themselves to virus attack. Use the VShield E-Mail Scan module to run background scan operations on your e-mail system and to maintain a constant level of vigilance between the scan operations you run with the E-Mail Scan extension. Under most circumstances, this should protect your system's integrity. If you have a large backlog of mail on your server that you have not yet scanned, if you log off from your Exchange server, or if you stop the E-Mail Scan module at any point, you should use the E-Mail Scan extension to scan your mailbox to ensure system integrity. Viruses could easily remain in old e-mail messages stored on your server or in e-mail messages that arrive during periods you are logged off from your e-mail system. User's Guide 253