Symantec 10067161 - 10PK NORTON ANTIVIRUS Product Manual page 195

Protecting Internet activities 195
About Vulnerability Protection
Vulnerabilities are flaws in your programs or your
operating system that can create weaknesses in overall
security of your system. Improper computer
configurations or security configurations also create
vulnerabilities. External attackers exploit these
vulnerabilities and perform malicious actions on your
computer. Examples of such malicious attacks are
active desktop monitoring, keylogging, and hacking.
Such attacks can slow down the performance of your
computer, cause program failure, or expose your
personal data and confidential information to the
hackers.
Norton AntiVirus provides the signature-based
solutions to protect your computer from the most
common Internet attacks. Attack signatures contain
the information that identifies an attacker's attempt
to exploit a known vulnerability in your operating
system or your computer programs. The Intrusion
Prevention feature of Norton AntiVirus uses an
extensive list of attack signatures to detect and block
suspicious network activity.
Vulnerability Protection lets you view the correlation
between the vulnerabilities that your computer is
protected against and the programs that may contain
these vulnerabilities. For example, if Internet Explorer
does not handle certain HTTP responses, it can result
in a vulnerability that can be exploited. In this case,
Vulnerability Protection lists Internet Explorer as a
vulnerable program. It also provides details about the
signatures that Intrusion Prevention uses to detect any
attempt to exploit this vulnerability.
Viewing the list of vulnerable programs
The Vulnerability Protection window lets you view
the extensive list of programs with the known
vulnerabilities that Norton AntiVirus protects you
against.
For each program, you can view details such as the
name of the program, its vendor, and the number of