Solutions in this chapter:

• Virus Scanning Methods

• Configuring Computer Virus Scans

• Analyzing Results of Virus Scans

• Understanding Outbreaks

• Summary

• Solutions Fast Track

• Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction

In this chapter, we get to the meat and potatoes of Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition (NAVCE): namely, performing virus scans and responding to virus outbreaks on your network. In previous chapters, we covered the steps necessary to plan, install, and configure a NAVCE server installation, including the Symantec System Center (SSC) management console, as well as the Alert Management Server2 (AMS ²) utility. Now we ll see how to put that configuration to use in protecting a corporate LAN/WAN configuration.

NAVCE offers several different methods to scan computers for virus infections. The foundation of Symantec s virus protection scheme is real-time scanning, in which files are examined each time they are accessed or modified by the user or operating system. Administrators can augment this continuous protection with regular scans of servers and clients. The SSC utility allows for great flexibility in creating a scanning schedule that meets the needs of your users and clients while not sacrificing network and hardware performance. Manual scans provide a means to quickly scan a small number of client or server computers, either as a troubleshooting step or in response to a virus alert from AMS ². And for the continued protection of 16-bit client operating systems, Symantec offers logon scanning for DOS and Windows 3. x.

We re going to take a good look at the technology involved...