As infected files become increasingly complex and sophisticated, virus & malware scanning isn’t always enough by itself to adequately limit a system’s threat profile. By incorporating content scanning policies into the threat detection process, it’s possible to mitigate the risk of false negative malware scans by setting no-nonsense restrictions against inherently dangerous file types. Below, we’ll discuss virus & malware scanning and content scanning as independent concepts, and we’ll subsequently highlight how the two work together to limit a system’s threat profile.

Understanding virus & malware file scanning

The practice of virus & malware scanning explicitly attempts to detect malware threats hidden within files. Virus & malware file scans are generally multi-step processes in which a variety of threat detection techniques are applied one after another, such as signature-based scanning, heuristic analysis, certificate analysis, and others. When a virus & malware scan is complete, files are tagged as clean or infected and dealt with accordingly.

The greater the variety (and quality) of threat detection policies applied in a virus & malware scan, the more likely it is that malware will be identified, and the more likely it is that false positives will be avoided. However, no matter how advanced or sophisticated virus & malware scanning techniques are, there’s always the possibility that a completely new or custom/targeted malware threat can breach the file scanning process and produce a potentially disastrous false negative result.

Understanding content scanning

The practice of content scanning is not directly concerned with identifying malware threats. Instead, this practice is concerned with verifying content types and categorically accepting or rejecting incoming files based on pre-set content verification rules. In other words, content scanning brings simple blacklisting and whitelisting concepts to the file threat detection process by focusing on the mitigation of inherently threatening file types rather than the discovery of malware within those files.

For example, since file types like scripts, executables, and macro-enabled Office files consistently present a high malware risk, explicitly blacklisting these file types from entering a system can improve its threat profile considerably. Additionally, whitelisting certain common file types (like PDF, DOCX, or XLSX for example) in a content scanning process constitutes an even more stringent anti-threat policy, rejecting an even wider range of files.

Virus, malware & content scanning

Applying shrewd content verification policies diminishes the number of threatening file types entering or leaving a system and reduces the likelihood of infected files slipping through the cracks. This effectively lessens the burden of threat detection that virus & malware scanning policies otherwise bear. Combining virus, malware and content scanning policies into a single file scanning service can cumulatively create a powerful layer of security for any system, and it can additionally help simplify security architecture for cybersecurity professionals.

Virus, malware & content scanning with the Cloudmersive Virus Scan API

The advanced iteration of the Cloudmersive Virus Scan API combines powerful virus & malware threat detection capabilities with content scanning policies to help significantly limit a system’s threat profile. Custom API parameters can be set to block executables, invalid file types, unsafe archives, scripts, macros, password-protected files, and more, and file types can be restricted even further with comma-separated whitelists of acceptable file extensions.

For more information on the Cloudmersive Virus Scan API, please feel free to reach out to a member of our sales team.