[Lu7]

I read that email scanning is not in all AV software and that it is not really needed since WXP SP2. Does it help to have it or is it really just redundant scanning but used to help in marketing the product?

Thanks

[Advertisements]

It can be useful because there are still some people who open all attachments without thinking, and it's a relatively effective way of distribution.
However the general trend seems to be infections from simple basic web surfing, namely going on suspicious looking websites, downloading content through P2P software, and using Internet Explorer.

[Neil Jones]

It can be useful because there are still some people who open all attachments without thinking, and it's a relatively effective way of distribution.
However the general trend seems to be infections from simple basic web surfing, namely going on suspicious looking websites, downloading content through P2P software, and using Internet Explorer.

[SpywareDr]

I think the basic reasoning is, why slow down your computer to scan ALL incoming email? If you never click on a 'nasty' attachment it's not really hurting anything. It's just laying there wasting space on your hard drive.

If you do happen to click on it to open/run it however, at that point all AVs should immediately recognize the potential threat, stop it in its tracks and pop up a warning message.

[Broni]

I agree with SpywareDr. Email scanner is an overkill.

[Lu7]

OK, with AV realtime protection running, it should catch the threat, that is of course assuming the AV program is able to detect and stop the threat.

Thanks

[Broni]

Well, same thing goes for email scanner. It's still a part of a very same AV program.