McAfee VirusScan
 |
| McAfee VirusScan icon | |
| File:McAfee SecurityCenter 2007 screenshot.png McAfee SecurityCenter 2007 | |
| Developer(s) | McAfee |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 2007 / 11
/ 2006-08-25 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X |
| Type | Antivirus |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | McAfee.com |
McAfee VirusScan is a popular antivirus program created and maintained by McAfee, formerly known as Network Associates. VirusScan is designed for home and home-office use; McAfee also develops VirusScan Enterprise for use in corporate environments. The product is not available as a standalone package, it is included in the McAfee VirusScan Plus package or as part of McAfee Internet Security Suite. McAfee also produces a similar product for Mac OS X under the name of VirusScan for Mac.
Features
The 2007 edition of VirusScan Plus integrates antivirus, firewall and anti-spyware capabilities and contains (amongst others) the following features:
- On-access file scanning
- Inbound and outbound firewall protection
- Spyware protection
- Daily definition updates (except the weekend)
- Daily pop-up reminders, appearing at random intervals, even over full screen applications and video games. This feature cannot be disabled.
- McAfee X-Ray rootkit detection
- McAfee SiteAdvisor - displays a safety rating for websites based on tests for evidence of spam, malware and phishing
- McAfee SystemGuards - monitors the computer for actvity that may be caused by virus infection or hacker activity
VirusScan Plus 2007 is compatible with Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista only.
VirusScan Enterprise
McAfee also produces an enterprise-level product named VirusScan Enterprise which is designed for use on larger networks. It contains features designed to make management of antivirus software on multiple computers easier. Unlike the home-user edition it consists of a client application which is loaded on all networked computers and a server application, through which signature and application updates are installed and settings for all client programs are configured. Clients can be controlled with the ePolicy Orchestrator (EPO) or with ProtectionPilot (PRP). ProtectionPilot is easier to configure and use but only control VirusScan. EPO is a unified console (it can control VirusScan and other McAfee products).
VirusScan for Mac
Previously known as Virex, this product is currently in beta (version 8.5).
McAfee has recently released a release candidate (RC) version of their VirusScan for Mac 8.5 product. The main highlights of the product are:
- Universal Binary: First universal binary version in the Virex product line. It will run on both Intel- and PowerPC-based Mac computers natively.
- On Access scanning: Features true blocking On Access Scanning. It scans every file being accessed from or written to the machine and blocks infections if any. On Access Scanner can be configured to scan on Read Only, Write only or both. It can also be configured to scan files on network volumes.
- 5100 engine support: The latest McAfee Anti-Virus engine.
- Apple Mail scanning : It will now scan Apple Mail messages for any infections. This feature is available through both On Demand Scanner and On Access Scanner.
Criticism
A review of VirusScan 2006 by CNET criticised the product due to "pronounced performance hits in two of our three real-world performance tests"[1] and some users reviewing the same product reported encountering technical problems[2] McAfee VirusScan is also known for annoying the user by persistently displaying the same message until the demands are met. It is also known for randomly interrupting full screen programs, such as games.
It also happened to delete some files with no questions asked, even when none of its default actions are set to "delete". According to the technical support, some very old virus definitions have hard-coded "delete" actions in them.
Its email scanning feature cannot be turned off; if the email scan option is set to "never," it will still scan outbound emails for viruses.
Some versions of the engine will consume 100% of CPU cycles; to fix that problem, see the "ODSAverageCPUUse" registry key in [3].