ThreatSense engine parameters setup

ThreatSense is a proprietary ESET technology comprised of several complex threat detection methods. This technology is proactive, which means it also provides protection during the early hours of the spread of a new threat. This technology uses a combination of several methods (code analysis, code emulation, generic signatures, and so on) that work together to significantly enhance system security. The scanning engine can control several data streams simultaneously, maximizing efficiency and detection rate. ThreatSense technology also successfully prevents rootkits.

The ThreatSense technology setup options enable you to specify several scan parameters:

File types and extensions that are to be scanned

The combination of various detection methods

Levels of cleaning, and so on

To display the setup window, click Setup > Enter application preferences ... (or press cmd+,) and then click the ThreatSense Engine Setup button located in the Startup Protection, Real-Time Protection and Computer Scan modules, which all use ThreatSense technology (see below). Different security scenarios may require different configurations. ThreatSense is individually configurable for the following protection modules:

Startup Protection - Automatic startup file check

Real-Time Protection - Real-time file system protection

Computer Scan - On-demand computer scan

Web Access Protection

Email Protection

The ThreatSense parameters are specifically optimized for each module, and their modification can significantly influence system operation. For example, changing settings to always scan runtime packers, or enabling advanced heuristics in the real-time file system protection module could result in a slower system. Therefore, ESET recommends that the default ThreatSense parameters stay unchanged for all modules except Computer scan.