ClamAV For Windows Open Beta Begins

An anonymous reader writes "The public beta for ClamAV for Windows 3.0, which includes full integration of the ClamAV engine into the Immunet Protect product, is now open. If you are interested in playing with ClamAV for Windows 3.0, please see these forums. 32-bit and 64-bit versions are available for download. ClamAV for Windows should not be confused with ClamWin, a separate project."

Re:ClamAV engine poor at general malwre detection

[Frosty Piss]

The clamAV engine is designed for scanning incoming email. These days any sensibly configured email system deletes all email with any forum of executable attachment before it gets anywhere near the end users so email scanning is a bit of a niche market.

Maybe end users WANT the freedom to be able to attach executables? Who says all email users (or even most) are like you?

Now, of course, I'm not talking about the rubes that clicky on any linky or attachment in their email, but you know, *I* want the ability to send *any* type of file I choose to a recipient that might be expecting said file...

Re:ClamAV engine poor at general malwre detection

[Anonymous Coward]

I work for a manufacturing software company and we deliver products by email every day. We rarely have a problem because very few email systems mindlessly delete all executable attachments.

Re:ClamAV engine poor at general malwre detection

[mspohr]

And unfortunately, the range of attachments which can be considered "executable" (on Windows) is very large. I recently encountered a company that would not accept a PDF file email attachment because of the perceived danger. No doubt the danger is real on Windows but this should prompt some more intelligent countermeasures (such as better pdf readers, virus detection, or getting rid of Windows).

Re:ClamAV engine poor at general malwre detection

[bcmm]

These days any sensibly configured email system deletes all email with any forum of executable attachment before it gets anywhere near the end users so email scanning is a bit of a niche market.

Where did you get that from? Remember that .doc is, potentially, an executable format (a Word macro can make arbitrary win32 API calls), not to mention the many exploits that rely on overflows in parsers of non-executable formats.