Product guide

Threat category Potential threat
Botnet breakdowns Infects your system or network and controls it from remotely to spread
malware.
Network threat Slows down network performance and gain unauthorized access to systems.
With McAfee Endpoint Protection for Mac is enabled, your Mac is protected from these malware threats
without compromising the needs. The software also provides a secured environment that eliminates
the risk to exposing to these vulnerabilities.
How McAfee Endpoint Protection for Mac protects your system
McAfee Endpoint Protection for Mac provides a comprehensive security mechanism that includes
anti-malware, desktop firewall, and application protection.
Anti-malware
Anti-malware protection secures your Mac from malware threats proactively with the predefined
actions upon detecting malware and suspicious items.
When enabled, the anti-malware feature scans files, folders on local, network-mounted volumes, and
removable media whenever you create or access an item.
The anti-malware engine:
Performs complex analysis using the malware definition files (DATs)
Decodes the contents of the item you access
Compares them with the known signatures stored in the DAT files to identify malware
For more information, see Anti-malware preferences.
Desktop firewall
Filters incoming and outgoing network traffic, to allow or block them as defined in the rules. Each rule
defines a set of conditions that the network traffic must meet and the rule's associated action is
executed.
Stateful filtering and packet inspection identify data packets for different types of connections and hold
the connection attributes in memory until the end of the session. When the first data packet of a new
session arrives, desktop firewall matches the packet against the rules list. If the data packet matches
an existing allow rule, a new entry is added to the state table and the traffic is allowed, and its
subsequent packets are allowed without further verification for that session. When the session is
completed or timed out, the entry is removed from the table.
If the data packet does not match existing rules, firewall blocks the network traffic.
You can run the desktop firewall protection in:
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Introduction
How McAfee Endpoint Protection for Mac protects your system
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McAfee Endpoint Protection for Mac 2.1.0 Product Guide