What is the Internet scan?

The Internet is a worldwide network made up of interconnected computers. By means of the access offered by an Internet service provider, the users of this international network can connect to it and use its services. The Internet offers different types of services. The best known among them are:

• Web pages: one of the best known Internet services. Web pages are pages of text and graphics in a format called HTML. Anyone can create his or her own Web pages and ôpublishö them (leave them in any Web page server) so that they are accessible to all Internet users. One of the most important characteristics of Web pages are their hyperlinks. A hyperlink is a connecting device joining two pages which can be in different servers located anywhere in the world. Thus, the mass of existing Web pages constitute a gigantic book containing subjects to please every taste, and offering the possibility of jumping from one "chapterö to another by clicking on a hyperlink. To display Web pages, you need a program known as a navigator or Internet browser.

• Electronic mail (e-mail): this is the other ôbasicö Internet service. It operates in a way that is similar to regular mail. Any user with access to an e-mail server can send and receive messages to and from any part of the world. The messages that are sent will go to the recipientÆs e-mail server, not directly to their computer. Thus, there is no need for them to have their computer connected to the server (nor even turned on) in order to receive incoming mail. In addition to text, the messages that are sent can include files of all types that the senders may attach to them. To send and receive electronic mail, an e-mail program is required.

• File transfer: through this service, better known as FTP, Internet users can download files left in file servers. One way to describe this is to say that the FTP programs enable any user to connect to a file server connected to the Internet and to view its directories and files as if they were in your own computer. If you want to work with those files, the FTP program allows you to download them onto your computer. It is well worth noting that files can also be downloaded from Web pages.

• News (NNTP): through this service, you can access newsgroups being discussed or that are placed in certain servers for consultation and subsequent discussion. You can also subscribe in order to periodically receive e-mails containing the latest news, although these may be infected. You can scan all the news received from Exchange/Outlook and Outlook Express.

The four services described above are the most important and widely used of all those offered by the Internet. Each of them uses a different protocol to operate. The question is: what is a protocol? A protocol is a means of exchanging information. The protocol enables the Internet server and the computer which connects to it to understand each other. Thus a protocol is the ôlanguageö which must be spoken to ensure communication between the two.

The protocol used to work with Web pages is called HTTP, the one used for sending e-mail is SMTP and the one used to receive it is POP3. The protocol used for transferring files in the Internet is called FTP. Lastly, the protocol used for news services is NNTP.

The Internet scan keeps watch on all the operations which are carried out with the protocols mentioned above (HTTP, SMTP, POP3, FTP and NNTP). Therefore, everything that comes into the computer via any of these pathways will be intercepted by the Internet scan, which will take care of checking it for viruses. If an e-mail message is received or sent, the Internet scan will make sure that it is free of viruses. Likewise, it will examine all files which are downloaded using the FTP or HTTP protocols, through any of the following programs: MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, WS_FTP95, CuteFTP, GetRight and Gozilla. Finally, all the contents that may be associated with a Web or HTML page will be also be scanned for viruses while they are being received by means of the HTTP protocol.

As you can see, the Internet scan is responsible for providing permanent protection against possible viruses in all contents received from the Internet, thus relieving the user of this burden and offering the highest levels of security since, for example, in the case of e-mail, it not only scans the incoming mail but also the outgoing messages, thus ensuring that viruses will not be distributed. Due to the high levels of protection offered by the Internet scan, we recommend having it always enabled.