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AIX 5L antivirus support

Beyond the virscan command

IBM discontinued the "virscan", or virus-scanning, command for AIX 5L, its latest version of the UNIX operating system. Originally developed to detect the presence of known computer viruses in MS-DOS or PC-DOS systems, the virscan command was adapted for use in an AIX environment.

Although IBM offers no virus-scanning software for AIX 5L, for added security you can choose among several commercial products and at least one open-source product that do provide virus scanning for AIX 5L.

Commercial products

Trend Micro™ InterScan VirusWall™ 3.6 for IBM AIX 5L (link resides outside of ibm.com) 
InterScan VirusWall provides comprehensive Internet gateway protection against viruses and malicious code by scanning SMTP, HTTP and FTP traffic. InterScan VirusWall 3.6 is supported by systems running AIX 5L 5.1 or later.

McAfee Endpoint Protection — Advanced Suite (link resides outside of ibm.com)
McAfee Endpoint Protection — Advanced Suite delivers integrated, proactive security that blocks malware and zero-day threats, and protects mobile systems on and off your network. With centralized policy-based management, access control, and auditing, Endpoint Protection — Advanced Suite helps keep your systems and data safe and compliant.

McAfee Total Protection for Endpoint — Enterprise Edition (link resides outside of ibm.com) 
McAfee Total Protection for Endpoint — Enterprise Edition protects all of your endpoints, including Windows, Mac, and Linux systems, as well as mobile devices. Total Protection for Endpoint — Enterprise Edition is a single, integrated solution that secures systems and data against sophisticated malware, zero-day attacks, noncompliant systems, and unauthorized devices. It also protects lost or stolen devices by blocking non-permitted access to your business-critical systems and sensitive data.

Sophos Anti-Virus (link resides outside of ibm.com) 
Sophos Anti-Virus provides cross-platform anti-virus protection, detection and disinfection. It contains a virus-detection engine that scans for viruses, Trojan horses and worms, and a proprietary technology called InterCheck that filters files as they are accessed to determine whether they need scanning for viruses. Sophos Anti-Virus is supported on systems running AIX 5L 5.1 or later.

Frisk F-Prot Antivirus for AIX on IBM pSeries (link resides outside of ibm.com) 
Specifically designed for AIX, F-Prot Antivirus for AIX on IBM pSeries scans e-mail messages and attachments to help ensure network security. On detection, F-Prot Antivirus disinfects and deletes viruses, spam, worms, Trojan horses and other malicious programs. It is supported by systems running AIX 5L 5.1 or later.

McAfee Security for Email Servers (link resides outside of ibm.com) (PDF, 565KB)
McAfee GroupShield for Lotus Domino offers threat protection for e-mail and other content entering and exiting a Domino environment. In addition to virus scanning, GroupShield includes content filtering, spam blocking and centralized management features. It is supported by systems running AIX 5L 5.1.

Symantec AntiVirus™/Filtering for Domino™ on AIX (link resides outside of ibm.com) 
Symantec AntiVirus/Filtering for Domino can help keep databases virus-free via incremental scanning and repair of file attachments and embedded OLE objects in Lotus Notes e-mail and database documents. Operations are performed in native Notes format for ease of use, and updates and alerts can be easily handled through a central settings database. Depending on which version of Lotus Domino you are using, Symantec AntiVirus/Filtering for Domino is supported on systems running AIX 5L 5.1 or later (Lotus Notes Domino Server R5 v5.0.8 or later) or AIX 5.1 or later (Lotus Domino 6 v6.0 or later).

Open-source products

Clam AntiVirus (link resides outside of ibm.com) 
Clam AntiVirus is a General Public License (GPL) anti-virus toolkit for UNIX environments, primarily integrated with mail servers for attachment scanning. The toolkit includes a multithreaded daemon, a command line scanner and a feature that allows for automatic updating via the Internet. Clam AntiVirus is supported on systems running AIX 5.1.

AIX antivirus software sources
Antivirus Vendor Eval Copy Avail. Duration of Eval License Full features in Eval copy Doc. Avail. Commer- cial Install Method User Interface
TrendMicro Y 30 days Y Y Y .tar file & script Command Line & Web based interface
McAfee VirusScan Y N/A Y Y Y .tar file & script Command Line
Sophos Y 30 days Y Y Y .tar file & script Command Line
Clam Y unlimited Y Y N source code & .tar Command Line
F-prot Y 30 days Y Y Y .tar file & script Command Line
McAfee GroupShield Y N/A N/A Y Y .tar file & script Command Line
Symantec N N/A N/A Y Y N/A N/A

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