Understanding the Antivirus and Content Security Components

Virus patternfile detects and cleans malicious file infections.

If a particularly damaging malware is discovered "in the wild," or actively circulating, Trend Micro releases a new pattern file as soon as a detection routine for the threat is available (usually within a few hours).

As virus authors and malicious content writers release new viruses to the public, Trend Micro collects their telltale signatures and incorporates the information into the virus pattern file. Because new and virulent viruses are discovered every day, Trend Micro frequently makes available new versions of the virus pattern, often 2-3 times a week depending on the need and threat-risk.

Spyware pattern detects hidden programs that secretly collect confidential information.

IntelliTrap pattern detects viruses that attempt to circumvent virus filtering by using real-time compression algorithms. IntelliTrap helps reduce the risk of such viruses entering your network by blocking email attachments with real-time compressed executable files and pairing them with other malware characteristics.

IntelliTrap exceptionpattern detects added exceptions to the IntelliTrap pattern.

Virus scan engine detects all virus and malware known to be "in the wild," or actively circulating.

Anti-spam engine detects unsolicited commercial or bulk email messages (UCEs, UBEs).

Anti-spam pattern detects unwanted content based on an updatable file containing spam definitions.

The 32/64-bit, multi-threaded scan engine checks files in real-time using the process called pattern matching. The virus scan engine also employs a number of heuristic scanning technologies that even allows it to detect new viruses, not yet seen in the wild. In addition to viruses, the scan engine protects against mass mailing worms, macro and polymorphic viruses, Trojans, and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

URL filtering engine detects dangerous or unwanted URLs contained in email.

The scan engine includes an automatic clean-up routine for old virus pattern files, to help manage disk space. It also features incremental pattern updates to help manage bandwidth.

The Advanced Threat Scan Engine detects files for less conventional threats, including document exploits.

The ScanMail application refers to product specific components (for example, Service Pack releases).