Files can
be easily renamed to disguise their actual type. Programs such as
Microsoft Word are "extension independent". They will recognize
and open "their" documents regardless of the file name. This poses
a danger, for example, if a Word document containing a macro virus
has been named "
benefits form.pdf". Word will
open the file, but the file may not have been scanned if IM Security is not set to
check the true file type.When set to IntelliScan, IM Security will
confirm a file's true type by opening the file header and checking
its internally registered data type.
Only files of that type that is actually capable being infected
are scanned. For example,
.mid files make up
a large volume of all web traffic, but they are known not to be
able to carry viruses. With true file type selected, once the true
type has been determined, these inert file types are not scanned.