McAfee SecurityCenter v11.0.560 on Windows 7 |
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| Developer(s) | McAfee |
|---|---|
| Stable release | v11.0.560 (Security Centre);v15.0.288 (Virus Scan) / 2011-06-24 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux |
| Type | Antivirus |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | McAfee.com |
McAfee VirusScan is an antivirus program created and maintained by McAfee Inc. (formerly known as Network Associates). McAfee markets VirusScan to home and home-office users; McAfee also develops VirusScan Enterprise for use in corporate environments. The product is not available as a standalone package, but is included in the McAfee VirusScan Plus package or as part of McAfee Internet Security Suite. McAfee also produces a similar product for Mac OS X under the name of VirusScan for Mac. Additionally, BSkyB and McAfee have produced a "Sky Broadband" branded version of VirusScan, offered free to Sky Digital customers upon broadband modem installation.
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The 2010 edition of VirusScan Plus integrates antivirus, firewall and anti-spyware capabilities.
It includes, amongst other things;
VirusScan Plus 2010 is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 only.
McAfee also produces an enterprise-level product named VirusScan Enterprise: McAfee has designed this for use on larger networks. It contains features intended to make management of antivirus software on multiple computers easier. Unlike the home-user edition, it consists of a client application - loaded on all networked computers - and a server application, through which the system installs signature and application updates and configures settings for all client programs. Clients can be controlled with the ePolicy Orchestrator, which is a unified console (it can control VirusScan and other McAfee products).
In November 2007 McAfee announced[2] VirusScan for Mac 8.6. (Earlier versions used the name Virex, developed by HJC Software.) The main highlights of VirusScan version 8.6 include:
VirusScan for Mac 8.6.1 The main highlights of this new version are:
In tests by Virus Bulletin and other independent consumer-organizations, McAfee virus scan has not fared well, frequently failing to detect some common viruses.[3]
A review of VirusScan 2006 by CNET criticized the product due to "pronounced performance hits in two of our three real-world performance tests"[4] and some users reviewing the same product reported encountering technical problems.[5]
Some older versions of the VirusScan engine use all available CPU cycles.[6]
As of 2009[update] McAfee virus-scanning products did not handle false positives well, repeatedly removing or quarantining known clean files even after the user restores them.[7]
Reviewers have described customer support for McAfee products as lacking, with support staff slow to respond and unable to answer many questions.[8][9]
On April 21, 2010, beginning approximately at 2 PM GMT, an erroneous virus definition file update from McAfee affected millions of computers worldwide running Windows XP Service Pack 3. The update resulted in the removal of a Windows system file (svchost.exe) on those machines, causing machines to lose network access and, in some cases, to enter a reboot loop. McAfee rectified this by removing and replacing the faulty DAT file, version 5958, with an emergency DAT file (version 5959) and has posted a fix for the affected machines in its consumer "KnowledgeBase".[10][11]