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Overview

McAfee VirusScan Enterprise protects your desktop and file servers from a wide range of threats including viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and potentially unwanted code and programs.

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Timeline

IS&T plans to release VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i in February of 2007.

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News

There are no news items at this time.

Announcements

VirusScan 8.5 Release Effort Underway

Key Decisions

No key decisions have been made at this point.

Notable Features

VirusScan 8.5i has the following new features:

• Incremental engine component updates.
• Ability to use different sets of detection definition (DAT) files at the same time.
• Support for scanning of 64-bit platforms
• Detection of rootkits in memory. The on-demand scanner can be configured to scan system memory
  for installed rootkits.
• Enhanced Access Protection. This feature prevents unwanted changes by restricting access to specified ports, files and folders, shares, registry keys and values.
• The rules have been enhanced to expand exclusion capability and provide better protection
• Support for Vista
• Support for Windows XP 64-bit

System Requirements

For the latest IS hardware recommendations, see Recommended PCs and Recommended Macintosh Computers for staff and students.

Testing

Testing will be performed under both Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista OS. A draft test plan is currently being worked on.

Known Issues

Updates as of January 2007 :

McAfee has informed us that OS upgrades are not supported. Moving forward, IS&T's recommendation will be to uninstall VirusScan 8.5i from Windows XP SP2 machines before upgrading to Vista.

McAfee has informed us that the behavior we experienced after a new installation (the on-access scanner is disabled within the Vshield icon) is the intended behavior.

As of December 2006:

- upgrading from Windows XP SP2 to Vista with VirusScan 8.5i preinstalled, results in on access scanner disability. Enabling on access scanner does not work. This has been reported to the vendor and expect a response shortly.

- new installations on a Windows XP SP2 machine, grays out disable on-access scanner in Vshield icon located system tray and also in the console. Work around available, however, we are working with vendor to ensure this is expected behavior in comparision to current supported version of VirusScan 8.0i.

- running Autoupdate at the end of the installtion does not reflect the current date. Manually run the autoupdate feature to see the current date listed.

These known issues were taken from the Release notes:

Release Candidate VirusScan 8.5i: ( December 2006):

These features or products are not supported on 64-bit operating systems:

- Buffer Overflow Protection.
- Scanning of Lotus Notes databases.
- Alert Manager 4.7.1.

3rd party anti-virus installations:

All third party anti-spyware and anti-virus applications must be removed prior to installing VirusScan 8.5i.

VirusScan 8.5i b2:

64-bit operating systems are not supported for this Beta release of VirusScan Enterprise 8.5. McAfee plans to support it for the Beta 3 release and subsequent releases.

Microsoft Windows Vista

1. After installing VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i on a
system using Windows Vista, the shield icon does
not display in the system tray. In addition,
neither SHSTAT.EXE nor MCSHIELD.EXE is loaded.
Use one of these methods to solve this issue:
- Log off the computer, then log back on
again.
- Restart the computer.

We expect this issue to be resolved for final
release of VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i.

2. When using VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i with
Windows Vista, you must have administrative
rights to perform an update task. Log on to the
VirusScan Console with administrator rights,
then perform the update task.

NOTE: This does not apply to scheduled update
tasks because they run automatically.

3. When using VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i with
Windows Vista, users logged on with
administrator rights cannot perform a
right-click scan, "Scan for threats."

We expect this issue to be resolved for final
release of VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i.

4. If you are using the Microsoft’s "Windows Mail
for Windows Vista" we recommend that you add the
process name "WinMail.exe" to the Access
Protection exclusions. This is required to
prevent Access Protection from blocking access
to this email client.

Spy Sweeper

1. Spy Sweeper. If you are using Spy Sweeper to
scan the VirusScan Enterprise installation
folder, a false detection occurs when it detects
BHO.DLL. This file is not spyware; it is a
component of ScriptScan that is installed as
part of VirusScan Enterprise.

 

ACCESS PROTECTION

1. If you disable the on-access scanner, you also
disable the access protection rules and buffer
overflow protection.

2. On a dual boot system, the "Prevent Windows
Process spoofing" rule may return a false alarm
on the Windows files from other Windows
installations.

3. Ports associated with known vulnerabilities and
exploits. Use this link to access a web site
that provides information about potential
vulnerabilities.

http://www.us-cert.gov/

NOTE:
If you cannot access this link by clicking on
it, copy and paste it into your web browser
to access the site.

 

ADDING FILE TYPE EXTENSIONS

1. If you are using wildcards to specify file type
extensions in either the Additional File Types
or Specified File Types dialog boxes, you cannot
use an asterisk (*) as the wildcard. You must
use a question mark (?) as the wildcard when
specifying file type extensions in these
scenarios.

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Documentation

Existing or Planned Documentation:

Documentation Name	Exists	Draft Ready	Ready	Assigned To
VirusScan Product Front Door	Yes	No	No	N/A
VirusScan 8.5i Product Page	No	No	No	N/A

 

Release Team

 

	Alex Kozlov - SWRT
	Product Release Coordinator
	Deb Bowser - SWRT
	Quality Assurance Coordinator
	Chris Gresham
	Help Desk Representative
	Atticus Gifford -SWRT
	Installer Writer
	Lee Ridgeway- TWS
	Documentation Writer
	Monique Yeaton
	IT Security

If you would like to contact the team, please send email to virusscan-release@mit.edu.

Meeting Minutes

• Meeting Minutes, September 11, 2006.

Support

Support will be determined and rolled out once released.