Preview Malicious PDFs with Visual and Forensic Clarity

We’re excited to introduce a new capability that brings greater transparency and context to email and collaboration threat investigations: Malicious PDF Previewing is now available.

PDFs continue to be one of the most commonly exploited file formats in phishing and malware campaigns. Security analysts and incident responders need more than just an alert—they need fast, visual context to understand threats and take action.

Visual Insight into PDF-Based Attacks

With this new feature, customers investigating PDF files flagged as malicious—either from email attachments or files shared via supported collaboration apps—can now preview both:

• A screenshot of the file's content, offering a quick visual snapshot of what the user would have seen.
• A detailed reasoning report, outlining the exact indicators that led to the malware detection, as determined by Avanan's Anti-Malware and Threat Emulation engines.

This enhancement helps analysts validate detections faster, understand user impact at a glance, and triage efficiently—without unnecessary downloads or redundant sandboxing.

How to Access It

To access the full preview and report:

1. Navigate to the entity page of the detected file or attachment.
2. In the Anti-Malware results section, click “View Report.”
3. You'll see the detailed forensic analysis and a visual preview of the PDF content.