Creating a protection scope

Protection scope is the location of objects being scanned and the types of files to be scanned. By default, Kaspersky Anti-Virus scans only infectable files stored on any hard drive, network drive or removable media.

An object which, due to its structure or format, can be used by intruders as a “container” to store and distribute a malicious object. As a rule, they are executable files, for example, files with the .com, .exe, .dll extensions, etc. The risk of activating malicious code in such files is fairly high.

You can expand or restrict the protection scope by adding / removing objects to be scanned or changing the type of files to be scanned. For example, you can only select EXE files run from network drives to be scanned.

When selecting file types please remember the following:

  • Probability of malicious code penetrating several file formats (such as .txt) and its further activation is quite low. At the same time, there are formats that contain or may contain an executable code (such as .exe, .dll, .doc). The risk of penetrating and activating malicious code in such files is quite high.
  • The intruder can send a virus to your computer in an executable file renamed as txt file. If you have selected the scan of files by extension, such a file is skipped by the scan. If the scan of files by format is selected, then, regardless of the extension, File Anti-Virus will analyze the file header, and reveal that the file is an .exe file. Such a file would be thoroughly scanned for viruses.

To edit the object scan list:

  1. Open the application settings window.
  2. In the left part of the window, in the Protection Center section, select the File Anti-Virus component.
  3. Click the Settings button in the right part of the window.
  4. In the window that opens, on the General tab, in the Protection scope section, open the object selection window by clicking the Add link.
  5. In the Select object to scan window, select an object and click the Add button.
  6. After you have added all required objects, click the OK button in the Select object to scan window.
  7. To remove an object from the scan list, uncheck the box next to it.

To change the type of scanned objects:

  1. Open the application settings window.
  2. In the left part of the window, in the Protection Center section, select the File Anti-Virus component.
  3. Click the Settings button in the right part of the window.
  4. In the window that opens, on the General tab, in the File types section, select the required settings.

Creating a protection scope