User guide

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6.3.3 Vulnerability Shield
Vulnerability shield is an extension of the Personal firewall that improves the detection of known vulnerabilities on
the network level. By implementing detections for common vulnerabilities in widely used protocols such as SMB,
RPC and RDP, it constitutes another important layer of protection against spreading malware, network-conducted
attacks and exploitations of vulnerabilities for which a patch has yet not been released or deployed.
6.3.4 ESET Live Grid
Built on ThreatSense.Net® advanced early warning system, ESET Live Grid utilizes data that ESET users have
submitted worldwide and sends it to the ESET Virus Lab. By providing suspicious samples and metadata from the
wild, ESET Live Grid enables us to react immediately to needs of our customers and keep ESET responsive to the
latest threats. ESET malware researchers use the information to build an accurate snapshot of the nature and scope
of global threats, which helps us focus on the right targets. ESET Live Grid data plays an important role in setting
priorities in our automated processing.
Additionally, it implements a reputation system that helps to improve the overall efficiency of our anti-malware
solutions. When an executable file or archive is being inspected on a user’s system, its hash tag is first compared
against a database of white- and blacklisted items. If it is found on the whitelist, the inspected file is considered
clean and also flagged to be excluded from future scans. If it is on the blacklist, appropriate actions are taken based
on the nature of the threat. If no match is found, the file is scanned thoroughly. Based on the results of this scan,
files are categorized as threats or non-threats. This approach has a significant positive impact on scanning
performance.
This reputation system allows for effective detection of malware samples even before their signatures are
delivered to user’s computer via updated virus database (which happens several times a day).
6.3.5 Botnet protection
Botnet protection discover malware through analyzing its network communication protocols. Botnet malware is
changing frequently in contrast to network protocols, which haven't changed in the last years. This new technology
helps ESET defeat malware which tries to avoid detection and try to connect your computer to botnet network.
6.3.6 Java Exploit Blocker
Java Exploit Blocker is an extension to existing Exploit Blocker protection. It monitors Java and looking for exploit-
like behavior. Blocked samples can be reported to malware analysts, so they can create signatures to block them on
different layers (URL blocking, file download, etc.).