Two of the biggest names in network security issued new software releases this week in an effort to keep pace with the ever-changing threats to corporate systems.
Trend Micro released OfficeScan Corporate Edition 6.5, a client-server solution for medium to large businesses, and InterScan Web
Security Suite 2.0. which offers anti-virus and spyware protection at the Web gateway.
Interscan Web Security Suite – a sister product to the company’s Interscan Messaging Suite – is a product that resellers should find a good market for, said Bob Hansmann, a Trend Micro senior product marketing manager.
“”A lot of people take their laptops on the road and then hook up to the network, or their companies have contractors who come in to the business and connect with their machines, so there’s a good chance users will be on the system that have viruses or spyware,”” he said.
The Web Security Suite brings together a number of scanning technologies and URL filtering capabilities into one integrated platform at the gateway. Its anti-virus module is aimed at stopping threats from those who use Web-based e-mail.
New in this version are anti-spyware and anti-phishing abilities by blocking outgoing e-mails to prohibited sites and preventing users’ machines from taking them to unapproved Internet sites.
URL filtering is an extra add-on that can be purchased. It’s primarily a “”blacklist”” composed of lists created by public organizations plus additions made by Trend Micro.
InterScan Web Security Suite v2.0 is available for Windows NT, with Linux and Solaris versions expected in the fall. Pricing begins at $16 USD per user for 25 users. The optional URL Filtering module also begins at $16 USD per user.
Pricing is US$25 a seat for 25 users, which is no change from version 1.0.
The latest version of OfficeScan Corporate Edition offers administrators the ability to monitor suspicious network activity from a centralized console.
New features include packet scanning on the network for threats before they enter PC memory, anti-spyware and an enterprise client firewall.
The latter is not a personal firewall, Hansmann stressed, which frustrate network administrators because they can be easily disabled by users. Trend Micro’s firewall gives network managers the ability to set up the desktop firewall so it can’t be altered for most, yet allow experienced users more flexibility.
It also includes the Cisco Trust Agent for companies using Cisco’s Network Admission Control software for enforcing anti-virus policies.
OfficeScan Corporate Edition v6.5 runs on WindowsNT, XP, Server 2000, and Server 2003. Pricing starts at US$25 per user for the first year for 25 users.
Network Associates said that new versions of two of its intrusion detection applications will be available this month.
“”Reseller partners have a chance to offer a complete suite of security applications to customers by providing network and host protection”” with the new versions, said Sylvain Dumas, a senior systems consultant for NAI Canada.
McAfee IntruShield 2.1 is an application that sits on the edge of the network that for the first time offers a virtual firewall to protect specific devices such as servers or desktops on the network. The company says this protects against attacks that originate internally.
The application can also prevent some attacks on encrypted data.
McAfee Entercept 5.0 for enterprise customers is a desktop/server guard “”when all else fails,”” said Dumas.
New in this version is an integrated firewall allowing system administrators to block unauthorized activities from escaping out of the system, giving time to install patches.
Attack signatures have been expanded to protect against threats anywhere on the network.
To help administrators, a new ‘at-a-glance’ dashboard has been added to the Entercept console, giving visibility of critical security measurements such as agent deployment status, most frequently attacked machines and most observed attacks.
