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How to configure antivirus settings in a Linux profile

Release Time
07/22/2020
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2512 times
Category
profiles
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Click ‘Configuration Templates’ > ‘Profiles’ > open a Linux profile > Click ‘Add Profile Section’ > ‘Antivirus’

Background

  • The antivirus section of a profile lets you control how the virus scanner in CCS operates on managed Linux endpoints. There are three main sections:
     
    • Scanner Settings - Configure general options for real-time, manual and scheduled scans. Choose files you want to exclude from scans.
       
    • Scan Profiles - Scan profiles tell CCS which items to scan. You can pick a full or quick scan, or create a custom profile to scan specific areas. Once saved, you can apply a scan profile to any scheduled scan.
       
    • Scheduled Scans - Choose when you want the scan profile to run on managed devices.
       
  • It is essential to add an antivirus section to a profile if you want virus scans on your endpoints. 

Add an AV section to a profile

  • Log into Xcitium
     
  • Click ‘Applications’ > ‘Endpoint Manager’.
     
  • Click 'Configuration Templates' > 'Profiles'
     
  • Open the Linux profile applied to your target devices
     
    • Open the 'Antivirus' tab if it has already been added to the profile

      OR
       
    • Click 'Add Profile Section' > 'Antivirus' if it hasn't yet been added:


 

The antivirus settings screen opens.

  • Click the following links for help to configure each tab:
     
    • Scanner Settings - Configure settings that apply to real-time/manual/scheduled scans, and specify items to be excluded from antivirus scans.
       
    • Scan Profiles - A scan profile tells CCS which files, folders and drives should be included in the scan. You can use a scan profile in a manual/on-demand scan, or add it to a schedule. This area lists all existing profiles and lets you create new profiles.
       
    • Scheduled Scans - Choose when you want the scan profile to run on managed devices.
  • Click 'Save' to apply the section to your profile.

Scanner settings

The scanner settings area has four sections:

Realtime Scanning

Note: The real-time scanner is not supported on Debian. The settings in this screen do not apply to Debian devices.


 

Real time scanning

Enable or disable the ‘always-on’ virus monitor on endpoints.

  • On Access –  Real-time protection is enabled. The scanner constantly monitors background processes for threats and checks files whenever they are created, opened or copied. Threats are detected before they get a chance to execute (Default)
     
  • Disabled - Real-time protection is switched off. Files are allowed to run without being checked for threats.

Do not scan files larger than    (MB)

The maximum file size that the antivirus should attempt to scan. CCS will not scan files larger than the size specified here. (Default = 20 MB)

Keep an alert on the screen for (seconds)

 How long threat notifications should stay on-screen if not dismissed by the end-user.

     (Default = 120 seconds)

 Automatically update virus database

CCS will download any available updates at system start-up, and subsequently at regular intervals. (Default = Enabled).

Automatically quarantine threats found during scanning 

 Any discovered threats are moved to a secure holding area where they can     cause no harm. You can review quarantined items and delete, ignore or restore them. (Default = Enabled)

Show notification messages 

Choose whether or not an alert is shown to the end-user when CCS   quarantines a threat.

    (Default = Disabled)

 Enable heuristic scanning

The heuristic scan level determines how likely the scanner is to classify an unknown file as a threat.

The scan level determines how likely the scanner is to classify an unknown file as a threat.

  • Low - Lowest sensitivity to detecting unknown threats / generates fewest false positives. This setting balances a strong ability to detect new viruses with a low rate of false positives. Xcitium recommends this setting for most users.
     
  • Medium - Detects unknown threats with greater sensitivity than the 'Low' setting, but with a corresponding rise in possible false positives.
     
  • High - Highest sensitivity to detecting unknown threats / increased possibility of false positives.

      (Default = Enabled with 'Low ' option)

   What is heuristics?

 Heuristics is an antivirus technology designed to identify new, previously unknown threats.

 The technology identifies code typical of a virus, rather than looking for a     signature that matches a signature on the blacklist. This allows the engine to   discover brand new viruses, even if they are not in the current virus database.

 

Manual Scanning

  • A manual scan is one you run 'on-demand' on specific files, folder or drives.
     
    • For example, you can launch a manual scan on your devices direct from Endpoint Manager. Go to 'Security Sub-Systems' > 'Antivirus' > 'Device List' > select a target device > Click the ‘Scan’ button.
       
    • See 'How to run virus scans on devices from the security sub-systems menu' for help to do this.
       
    • You can also run manual scans from the CCS installed on the Linux device. Click 'Antivirus' > 'Run a Scan' > select a scan profile > 'Scan'. See this help page if you need help to run on-demand scans on the local device.
       
  • The Manual Scanning interface lets you select options for on-demand scans:


Do not scan files large than (MB)

 The maximum file size that the antivirus should attempt to scan. CCS will not scan files larger than the size specified here. (Default = 20 MB)

Scan archive files

CCS scans archive files such as .ZIP and .RAR files.

   (Default = Enabled).

Automatically update virus    database before scanning

CCS will download any available updates at system start-up, and subsequently at regular intervals.

 Enable cloud scanning

 Augments the local scan with a real-time look-up of Xcitium's online signature database. This makes virus scans more accurate because the cloud database is the most up-to-date.

 With cloud scans enabled, CCS can detect new malware even if the local database is old.

  (Default = Enabled).

 Enable heuristic scanning

 The heuristic scan level determines how likely the scanner is to classify an unknown file as a threat.

  • Low - Lowest sensitivity to detecting unknown threats / generates fewest false positives. This setting balances a strong ability to detect new viruses with a low rate of false positives. Xcitium recommends this setting for most users.
  • Medium - Detects unknown threats with greater sensitivity than the 'Low' setting, but with a corresponding rise in possible false positives.
     
  • High - Highest sensitivity to detecting unknown threats / increased possibility of false positives.

      (Default = Enabled with 'Low ' option)

What is heuristics?

 Heuristics is an antivirus technology designed to identify new, previously unknown threats.

The technology identifies code typical of a virus, rather than looking for a   signature that matches a signature on the blacklist. This allows the engine to  discover brand new viruses, even if they are not in the current virus database.

 

Scheduled Scanning

The settings you specify here apply to all scheduled scans that you create.




The preferences for scheduled scans are similar to manual scans as explained above, except:
 

Automatically quarantine threats found during scanning

 Any discovered threats are moved to a secure holding area where they can    cause no harm. You can review quarantined items and delete, ignore or restore them. (Default = Enabled)

Show scanning progress

End-users will see a scan progress bar when the scan is running.

   (Default = Enabled)

 

Exclusions

  • The 'Exclusions' tab lets you specify files and folders that should be ignored by the antivirus scanner
     
  • Any item you exclude will be skipped by ALL types of scan - real-time, on-demand and scheduled.



 

  • Click 'Add'
     


  • Enter the full path of the item you want to exclude then click 'OK'.
     
  • Repeat the process to exclude more items.

Scan profiles

  • Scan profiles tell CCS which files, folders or drives to scan on a device
     
  • CCS ships with two default profiles – 'My Computer' and 'Critical Areas'
     
  • You can also create custom profiles which consist of specific items
     
  • Any profiles you create can be added to a scheduled scan



 

Create a scan profile

  • Click 'Add'
     


  • Enter a label for the scan profile
     
  • Click 'Add' to specify the item you want to scan. This can be a folder, drive, file or area:



 

  • Enter the path of the item you want to scan then click 'Ok'
     
  • The path is added to the profile as follows:



 

  • Repeat the process to add more paths
     
  • Click 'Ok'

The scan profile will be added to the list and can be selected as part of a scheduled scan.



 

Scheduled Scans

  • The highly customizable scheduler lets you set up recurring scans on managed devices. CCS scans the items in the scan profile at the times you specify in the schedule.
     
  • You can create multiple schedules to take advantage of different scan profiles.


 

  • Click 'Add' to create a new scheduled scan



 

  • Name - Label of the schedule. Pick something that describes the frequency and target of the schedule. For example, ‘Daily scan of the apps folder’, or ‘Weekly scan of sales team laptops’.
     
  • Time - The time the scan should start.
     
  • Day of week - Select the days of the week on which the scan should run.
     
  • Profile - Choose the pre-defined or custom scan profile you want to use in this scheduled scan. All profiles listed in the 'Scan Profiles' tab will be available in the drop-down.
     
  • Click 'OK'
     


  • Repeat the process to add more scan schedules

  • Click 'Save' to apply the schedule to your configuration profile.

Further reading

How to run virus scans on devices from the security sub-systems menu

How to manage quarantined items in Endpoint Manager

How to configure antivirus settings in a Mac OS profile

How to configure antivirus settings in a Windows Profile