Mail Shield

This Article Applies to:

Avast Business CloudCare

Mail Shield checks incoming and outgoing email messages in real time for viruses and links to malicious websites. This only applies to messages handled by mail management software installed on your computer, such as Microsoft Outlook. If accessing a web-based email account via an internet browser, the device is protected by other Antivirus shields.

We do not recommend installing this component on a server OS that is also running Microsoft Exchange. The Exchange and Anti-Spam components handle the Exchange-level filtering and will conflict with Mail Shield.

For Windows configuration options, see below. For macOS configuration options, see macOS Mail Shield Settings.

Main Settings Tab

Inbound mail: choose whether inbound (POP3, IMAP4) email is scanned

Outbound mail: choose whether outbound (SMTP) email is scanned

Newsgroup messages: choose whether newsgroup messages (NNTP) are scanned

Behavior Tab

Configure notes added to emails or additional options for MS Outlook.

General: choose whether to insert notes into clean or infected messages, both incoming and outgoing, and/or to add a warning to the subject line of infected emails

MS Outlook only: choose whether to show splash screen, scan files when attaching to email, and/or to scan archived messages when opening (or just unread ones)

SSL Scanning Tab

Choose whether or not to scan SSL connections.

Actions Tab

Control what actions are taken by Avast when a virus, potentially unwanted program (PUP), unwanted tool, or suspicious file is detected.

Main Action/First action to try: Select the first action you want your Antivirus to take (for example, if it will first attempt to fix or quarantine the threat, or delete it immediately).

Notification Options: Choose whether to show notifications when Mail Shield takes action against a detected threat.

Processing of infected archives: Choose whether to only remove the packed file from the archive (and if that fails, do nothing), remove the packed file from the archive (and if that fails, remove the entire archive), or to remove the entire archive.

Packers Tab

Configure which archive (packer) files Antivirus should try to unpack during the scanning process. Unpacked files can be better analyzed for malware by Mail Shield. Unpacking a file is the same as extracting a file from an archive. Original archives, including the files contained within, remain intact when being processed by your Shield.

You can select All packers, or specific packer files from the extensive list by checking the boxes.

Sensitivity Tab

Here, you can adjust the sensitivity of the Antivirus scan for Mail Shield:

Heuristics Sensitivity: Heuristics enable Antivirus to detect unknown malware by analyzing code for commands that may indicate malicious intent. The default setting is Normal. With higher sensitivity, Antivirus is more likely to detect malware, but also more likely to make false-positive detections that incorrectly identify files as malware.
- Use code emulation: Choose whether to use code emulations to unpack and test suspected malware in an emulated environment, where the files cannot cause damage to devices.
Sensitivity: Enable Test whole files to check the whole content of a file instead of the parts typically affected by malicious code. There is usually no need to enable this option, and it will likely impact system performance.
PUP and suspicious files: Choose whether or not to scan for potentially unwanted programs (PUPs). You can select the option separately for pre and post 21.5 and 21.6 versions of the Antivirus respectively. For versions 21.6 and newer, you can also choose whether to scan for potentially unwanted tools.

Report File Tab

Customize the content of the shield's report file, such as which items are included, the file name, and file type. The report is saved in C:\ProgramData\Avast Software\Avast\report (Windows 7 and higher).

macOS Mail Shield Settings

Settings:

Enable IPv6: choose whether to scan devices using IPv6 or not
Scan secured connections: choose whether to scan emails sent or received over secure protocols or not
Report PUPs: choose whether to report potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) or not
Mark mail headers: choose whether to add a warning to the header of suspicious emails or not
Email attachments: choose whether to remove suspicious email attachments before downloading emails or not

Exclusions list: configure the list of mail hosts that are not scanned by Mail Shield.