ThreatSense parameters

ThreatSense is comprised of many complex threat detection methods. This technology is proactive, which means it also provides protection during the early spread of a new threat. It uses a combination of code analysis, code emulation, generic signatures, and virus signatures, which significantly enhance system security. The scanning engine can control several data streams simultaneously, maximizing efficiency and detection rate. ThreatSense technology also successfully eliminates rootkits.

ThreatSense engine 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, etc.

Different security scenarios may require different configurations. With this in mind, ThreatSense is individually configurable for the following protection modules:

•Real-time file system protection

•Malware scans

•Web access protection

•Email client protection

ThreatSense parameters are highly optimized for each module. Their modification can significantly influence system operation. For example, changing parameters always to scan runtime packers or enabling Advanced heuristics in the Real-time file system protection module could result in system slow-down (normally, only newly-created files are scanned using these methods).

Objects to scan

This section enables you to define which computer components and files will be scanned for infiltrations.

Email files – The program supports the following extensions: DBX (Outlook Express) and EML.

Archives – The program supports the following extensions: ARJ, BZ2, CAB, CHM, DBX, GZIP, ISO/BIN/NRG, LHA, MIME, NSIS, RAR, SIS, TAR, TNEF, UUE, WISE, ZIP, ACE, and many others.

Self-extracting archives – Self-extracting archives (SFX) are archives that can extract themselves.

Runtime packers – After being executed, runtime packers (unlike standard archive types) decompress in memory. In addition to standard static packers (for example, UPX, yoda, ASPack, FSG), the scanner can recognize several other packers through code emulation.

Scan options

Select the methods used when scanning the system for infiltrations. The following options are available:

Heuristics – A heuristic is an algorithm that analyzes the (malicious) activity of programs. The main advantage of this technology is identifying malicious software that did not exist or was not covered by the previous virus signatures database. The disadvantage is a (very small) probability of false alarms.

Advanced heuristics/DNA signatures – Advanced heuristics are a unique heuristic algorithm developed by ESET, optimized for detecting computer worms and trojans and written in high-level programming languages. Advanced heuristics greatly increases the threat detection capabilities of ESET products. Signatures can reliably detect and identify viruses. Utilizing the automatic update system, new signatures are available within a few hours of a threat discovery. The disadvantage of signatures is that they only detect viruses they know (or slightly modified versions of these viruses).

Cleaning

ThreatSense parameters have the following cleaning levels:

Exclusions

A file extension is the part of a filename delimited by a period and defines the type and content of a file. This section of the ThreatSense parameter setup lets you define the types of files to be excluded from the scan.

Other

When configuring ThreatSense engine parameters setup for an On-demand computer scan, the following options in the Other section are also available:

Scan alternate data streams (ADS) – Alternate data streams used by the NTFS file system are file and folder associations which are invisible to ordinary scanning techniques. Many infiltrations try to avoid detection by disguising themselves as alternate data streams.

Run background scans with low priority – Each scanning sequence consumes a certain amount of system resources. If you work with programs that place a high load on system resources, you can activate low priority background scanning and save resources for your applications.

Enable Smart optimization – With Smart Optimization enabled, the most optimal settings are used to ensure the most efficient scanning level while simultaneously maintaining the highest scanning speeds. The various protection modules scan intelligently, using different scanning methods and applying them to specific file types. If the Smart Optimization is disabled, only the user-defined settings in the ThreatSense core of the specific modules are applied when performing a scan.

Preserve last access timestamp – Select this option to keep the original access time of scanned files instead of updating them (for example, for use with data backup systems).

Limits

The Limits section enables you to specify the maximum size of objects and levels of nested archives to be scanned:

Object settings

Disable the slider bar next to Default object settings to configure the following options:

Maximum object size – Defines the maximum size of objects to be scanned. The given antivirus module will scan only objects smaller than the specified size. This option should only be changed by advanced users who may have specific reasons for excluding larger objects from scanning. Default value: unlimited.

Maximum scan time for object (sec.) – Defines the maximum time value for scanning an object. If a user-defined value has been entered here, the antivirus module will stop scanning an object when that time has elapsed, regardless of whether the scan has finished. Default value: unlimited.

Archive scan setup

Disable the slider bar next to Default archive scan settings to configure the following options:

Archive nesting level – Specifies the maximum depth of archive scanning. Default value: 10.

Maximum size of file in archive – This option enables you to specify the maximum file size for files contained in archives (when they are extracted) that are to be scanned. Default value: unlimited.