The invention provides a method and system for scanning specialized
computing devices for viruses. In a preferred embodiment, a filer is
connected to one or more supplementary computing devices that scan
requested files to ensure they are virus free prior to delivery to end
users. When an end user requests a file the following steps occur: First,
the filer determines whether the file requested must be scanned before
delivery to the end user. Second, the filer opens a channel to one of the
external computing devices and sends the filename. Third, the external
computing device opens the file and scans it. Fourth, the external
computing device notifies the filer the results of the file scan
operation. Fifth, the filer sends the file to the end user provided the
status indicates it may do so.