Here is a FAQ that I have compiled on the Interscan Viruswall tool. Please note that at this stage, I cannot answer questions like how system intensive the tool is on the system and how easy is it to install as I have not performed any extensive tests on this tool. I have just researched on the features of this tool and gone thru the configuration options of this tool. This FAQ is meant to provide a condensed introduction to the features of Interscan Viruswall Tool. This information, I feel will be really necessary when we decide to go for the analysis of the tool.

What is Interscan Viruswall ?

InterScan Viruswall is is a tool designed for protection against all types of computer viruses that can hitchhike on Email or FTP traffic across the Internet into your network. It intercepts viruses at the point where the Internet traffic enters your network ie the Internet gateway of your system. It can be configured to monitor Email and/or FTP traffic continuously or periodically.

Whom do you buy the product form ?

InterScan VirusWall is a trademark of Trend Micro Inc. They have a 30 day demo copy which can be downloaded for evaluation purposes.

What platforms is it supported on?

InterScan VirusWall has two versions for the following operating systems :

• Solaris
• NT

I did not see any information containing support information for any other operating systems.

Where is it installed ?

It is installed on the Internet gateway server of the organisation.

What are its features and capabilities ?

The following are the main features of the tool

• Intercepts the viruses at the gateway before they enter the network
• Configuration is via a HTML  interface
• Uses a Unix based virus scanning engine
• stores log files in a HTML format
• Uses the SMTP and FTP anti-virus proxy services that reside on the gateway
• Can be installed on the Internet Server without bringing it down

What are its components ?

The Viruswall consists of three logical components :

• Internet server
• FTP proxy server
• SMTP proxy server

The InterScan Viruswall looks at all the incoming packets. When it is a file type to be scanned, it puts it into a temporary file and invokes the virus checking program. If the file is an attachment to an E-mail message and clean, it passes control to the SMTP proxy server which in turn sends the file to the recipient. If the file is being transferred via FTP, Interscan passes control to the FTP proxy server which sends the file to the specified destination.

If the file is infected, it can take the following configured action :

• No action
• delete the infected file
• clean the file and pass it to the recipient
• Hold the file and inform sys admin and the user abt it

Viruses are a serious problem. I found the following features of the tool very cool :

• Filtering of the viruses at the entry point of the network, namely the gateway
• Filtering of all types of traffic, namely email, ftp etc
• Very nice and easy configuration procedure
• Manual scanning of selected user directories available
• Automatic update of the virus pattern file from their database

Some of the not so cool features could be :

• Might slow down the already incredibly slow network
• What about other types of traffic apart from ftp and email

Where did you lift all that material from ?

Here's the list :

• The InterScan Viruswall's User's guide
• The Trend Micro Homepage (click on the products pane)

This review was written by Jai Sundar Balasubramaniyan <balasujs@cs.purdue.edu> during the summer of 1997. The opinions expressed are for purposes of critical review, and do not represent any official recommendation or endorsement by COAST or Purdue University.