Virus and Spyware Protection

Virus and Spyware Protection protects computers from viruses and security risks, and in many cases can repair their side effects. The protection includes real-time scanning of files and email as well as scheduled scans and on-demand scans. Virus and spyware scans detect viruses and the security risks that can put a computer, as well as a network, at risk. Security risks include spyware, adware, and other malicious files.

See Managing scans on client computers.

Network Threat Protection

Network Threat Protection provides a firewall and intrusion prevention protection to prevent intrusion attacks and malicious content from reaching the computer that runs the client software.

The firewall allows or blocks network traffic based on the various criteria that the administrator sets. If the administrator permits it, end users can also configure firewall policies.

The Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) analyzes all the incoming and the outgoing information for the data patterns that are typical of an attack. It detects and blocks malicious traffic and attempts by outside users to attack the client computer. Intrusion Prevention also monitors outbound traffic and prevents the spread of worms.

See Managing firewall protection.

See Managing intrusion prevention on your client computers.

Proactive Threat Protection

Proactive Threat Protection uses SONAR to protect against zero-day attack vulnerabilities in your network. Zero-day attack vulnerabilities are the new vulnerabilities that are not yet publicly known. Threats that exploit these vulnerabilities can evade signature-based detection, such as spyware definitions. Zero-day attacks may be used in targeted attacks and in the propagation of malicious code. SONAR provides real-time behavioral protection by monitoring processes and threats as they execute.

Application and Device Control monitors and controls the behavior of applications on client computers and manages the hardware devices that access client computers.

See Managing SONAR.

See About application and device control.

See Setting up application and device control.

SONAR examines programs as they run, and identifies and stops malicious behavior of new and previously unknown threats. SONAR uses heuristics as well as reputation data to detect emerging and unknown threats.

Application Control controls what applications are allowed to run or access system resources.

Device Control manages the peripheral devices that users can attach to desktop computers.