7/24/2019 USB Vaccination- A Special Feature in eScan Antivirus

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Anti-Virus & Content Security

www.escanav.comUSB Vaccination

USBV

accination

USBV

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7/24/2019 USB Vaccination- A Special Feature in eScan Antivirus

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Anti-Virus & Content Security

www.escanav.com

USB Vaccination

Autorun-based malwares have been a major source of infection that spread through USB

Drives when used on multiple computers that may or may not be protected by an antivirus.

They spread through the AUTORUN.INF file which is a configuration file that is normally

located in the root of removable drive, the operating system uses this file toknow which

actions to perform when an external storage device, such as USB drive or CD/DVD, is inserted

into the PC. Autorun-based malwares replace or modify Autorun.inf file and insert a malicious

program in the drive that automatically executes when the drive is mounted to a PC.

Whenever such infected USB drive is inserted into a PC that is protected by an antivirus the

drive is scanned on insertion and it may disable autorun, it will block the malicious program to

execute and stop it from spreading infection to the PC. But in case the same USB Drive is

mounted to a PC that is not protected by an antivirus or the antivirus is not updated with latest

signatures, the malware program will execute on insertion and will spread on the PC on which

the USB is mounted. Similarly, a non-infected USB pen-drive may get infected and may

become the root cause for the propagation of malware.

For preventing spread of autorun -based malware infection eScan provides an advanced USB

Vaccination feature that replaces the autorun.inf file present on any USB Drive with its own

autorun.inf file that cannot be modified or deleted manually or by any malicious program.

This file is created in such a way that it does not allow malicious program to execute on any

system to which the USB Drive is mounted on, irrespective whether the said system is

protected by AV or not. The vaccinated drive can be used normally for copying and

transferring files from one computer to other without any concern for malware spreading

through USB drives even if the PCs are not protected by any antivirus. The drive will remain

vaccinated till it is formatted by the user or de-vaccinated using eScan.

USB Vaccination

7/24/2019 USB Vaccination- A Special Feature in eScan Antivirus

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USB Vaccination www.escanav.com

USB vaccination is an advanced protection offered in conjunction with the USB white-

listing / black-listing feature, which ensures that the corporate security policies are

adhered to even when the white-listed USB is used on systems which are not under the

active protection of the Corporate Antivirus. Users may find this feature convenient as

the perceived threat from USB based malware is nullified by the virtue of Vaccination.

Anti-Virus & Content Security