Which web filtering feature is most effective for mitigating malware infections?

The most effective feature for mitigating malware infections among the choices provided is URL scanning. This method focuses on examining the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) that users are attempting to access.

URL scanning is crucial because it allows security systems to analyze web content in real-time, checking for known malicious sites and patterns associated with malware. When a user tries to access a URL, the scanning feature can block access to sites that are categorized as harmful or contain malicious code, thereby preventing potential malware downloads before they can infect the user's system.

Moreover, URL scanning can often leverage databases of known threats and emerging vulnerabilities, allowing for a more proactive approach to security. This feature can immediately react to known malware signatures or behaviors associated with malicious websites, providing a frontline defense against malware infections that can occur simply through web browsing.

In contrast, while user activity monitoring, email filtering, and content filtering have their importance in overall security strategies, they do not specifically target the immediate risk of accessing malware-hosting URLs. User activity monitoring tracks behaviors but does not prevent malicious access. Email filtering helps manage malware in unsolicited emails, but it does not address the threats posed by web traffic. Content filtering can block inappropriate or harmful content but may not specifically identify malware as efficiently as URL scanning