SpIDer Mail

SpIDer Mail is an anti-virus mail scanner that is installed by default. It resides in memory and automatically launches on system startup.

SpIDer Mail does not check encrypted email traffic.

Mail processing

Any incoming messages are intercepted by SpIDer Mail before they are received by mail clients. Messages are scanned for viruses with the maximum possible level of detail. If no viruses or suspicious objects are found, messages are passed on to the mail program in a “transparent” mode as if they were received directly from the server. Similar procedure is applied to outgoing messages before they are sent to servers.

By default, SpIDer Mail reacts to detection of infected incoming messages and messages that have not been scanned (for example, due to a complicated structure) as follows:

•Malicious code is removed from infected messages, then messages are delivered as usual. This action is called curing the message.

•Messages with suspicious objects are moved to Quarantine as separate files; the mail client receives a notification about this. This action is called moving the message. All moved messages are deleted from the POP3 or IMAP4 mail servers.

•Messages that have not been scanned and safe messages are passed on to the mail client.

Infected or suspicious outgoing messages are not sent to the server. The user is notified that a message will not be sent (usually the mail program will save such a message).

The default SpIDer Mail settings are optimal for beginners, provide maximum protection and require minimum user interference. However, by default SpIDer Mail may block some options of mail programs (for example, sending a message to multiple addresses might be considered as mass distribution, incoming mail is not scanned for spam), useful information from safe text part of infected messages becomes unavailable in case of automatically deletion. Advanced users can configure mail scanning settings and reaction of SpIDer Mail to various virus events.

Mail check by other components

Dr.Web Scanner can also detect viruses in mailboxes of several formats, but SpIDer Mail has several advantages:

•Not all formats of popular mailboxes are supported by Dr.Web Scanner. When using SpIDer Mail, the infected messages are not even delivered to mailboxes.

•Dr.Web Scanner does not check mailboxes at the moment of the mail receipt, but either on user demand. Furthermore, this action is resource consuming and takes a lot of time.

Thus, when all Dr.Web components operate with their default settings, SpIDer Mail detects viruses and suspicious objects distributed via email first and prevents them from infiltrating your computer. SpIDer Mail operation is rather resource sparing. Scanning of email files can be performed without other components.