Standard Anti-Virus software uses scanning techniques to examine disks for viruses.

No. There's plenty of evidence to show the Anti-Virus Scanners alone cannot give adequate virus protection. Research by independant consultants BrownWright, published in The Times newspaper, showed that even well-known Anti-Virus scanning software failed to recognise up to 600 viruses in circulation Security surveys continue to report that companies are still getting infected by computer viruses even though they have deployed and maintain anti-virus software.

Anti-Virus scanners work by recognising ‘signature’ files which indicate virus activity. The problem with this is that the scanning software must be aware of the virus signature in advance of infection – therefore viruses that are unknown to it will get through. Libraries of Anti-Virus signature files are built up over time, but no matter how often updated, they will always lag behind the release and propagation of new viruses. No virus scanning software can truthfully claim to have detected the signature for every virus that exists. 100% virus protection is simply not possible. So even if you have Anti-Virus software installed on every PC in your organisation, the statistics suggest you are likely to experience at least one or two virus infections every year. So, it’s worth bearing in mind that by the time Anti-Virus Scanners detect viral activity, you are already infected. Stringent (and expensive) clean-up measures must be put into immediate effect on every machine that even might have been infected by the virus, whether it has been or not.

Viruses are delivered by email either as attachments or within the body of the email (HTML) they can also be carried on floppy disk boot sectors or within files. "Macro" viruses are carried mainly within MS Word documents they can be transferred by email or removable media.

Reflex Data Security products offer comprehensive Anti-Virus measures which prevent all viruses from infecting any PC. Our Anti-Virus strategy is incorporated within Reflex Disknet Pro, as part of a more encompassing overall method of protection. The aim is to create a ’Protected Environment’ where the transmission of all data on removable media is tightly controlled by ‘Media Authorisation’ - if a virus cannot enter your organisation, its identity is irrelevant.

It ensures that all removable media used within a company / network / workgroup is examined, authorised and kept free of virus infection. Authorised media which is subsequently used outside the closed group cannot be brought back in until they are re-authorised. Removable media used on Reflex Disknet Pro-equipped PCs are first scanned for viruses (and other types of unwanted code). They are then given a 'Disknet Signature'. They require no further attention unless they are taken out of the protected environment. Even unknown viruses are prevented from getting copied to your hard disk or network drive and thus do not get the chance to propogate.

Yes. Reflex Disknet Pro complements anti-virus software by automatically integrating with it. The high cost of virus infections demands that zero tolerance is best. We recommend the use of Anti-Virus Scanners in concert with the extended facilities of Reflex Disknet Pro.