Symantec Endpoint Protection client/Outlook add-in scanning PST or OST Files

Products

• Endpoint Protection

Issue/Introduction

Can Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) client Outlook add-in scan Outlook PST or OST files?

Resolution

PST Files

• SEP Client doesn't explicitly scan PST files. However, if you are to open these files using Outlook, and if there is an attachment, the SEP Outlook scanner add-in would scan it.

Or

• If you were to open or save the attachment, SEP Auto-Protect feature would scan the file.
  
  This way, even if there is no explicit scan for these files in SEP, protection is provided through other means of scan real-time protection (Auto-Protect).

 

 

 

OST Files

".ost" files are not the same as ".pst" files. SEP does not scan ".ost" files.

• OST file is a local replica of the user's Exchange mailbox. Unlike PST files, OST files are tied to a specific user profile and mailbox. Hence, it is not possible to open and read the contents of standalone OST files.

• As the contents of OST are a copy of the contents on the Exchange server and are synchronized upon connection with the server, it may be sufficient to just use the Exchange scanner to scan mailboxes rather than scanning OST files.

• Essentially, scanning of OST files cannot be done in the context of a file system scan. It has to be profile-based.