Jayne Parkhouse

You would not leave your home without locking the door behind you and likewise you would protect your car when parked, so why do we quite happily leave documents open for anyone to see, print, alter or otherwise manipulate?

For anyone connecting to the internet, security has long been an issue. However, for many small businesses, the cost of security has also been a big issue and a heavy burden because the cost of security has often outweighed its benefits.

This is one product that has been on the computer security scene for quite some time and Control Break International has continued to develop its solutions over the years, despite many of its earlier competitors falling by the wayside.

For some time now, the problem for security professionals has not been "do I need AV protection" but more specifically "which one is best for my corporate needs." But with so many other danger areas for security administrators to concentrate on, leading to the provision of intrusion detection systems, intrusion prevention systems, firewalls and virtual private networks, to name but a few, it is crucial to make the right decision when they have a large array of other security solutions already running.
Providing all you need for network screening and stability can be a tall order, so whichever anti-virus solution is relied upon - software- or hardware-based, or a mix of both - it has to be dependable, be able to fully integrate with everything else running on the network, and provide 100 per cent system integrity.

For some time now, the problem for security professionals has not been "do I need AV protection" but more specifically "which one is best for my corporate needs." But with so many other danger areas for security administrators to concentrate on, leading to the provision of intrusion detection systems, intrusion prevention systems, firewalls and virtual private networks, to name but a few, it is crucial to make the right decision when they have a large array of other security solutions already running.
Providing all you need for network screening and stability can be a tall order, so whichever anti-virus solution is relied upon - software- or hardware-based, or a mix of both - it has to be dependable, be able to fully integrate with everything else running on the network, and provide 100 per cent system integrity.

Even the most vigilant among us can still become victims of crime. But if the worst happens and a laptop is stolen, if it is protected and traceable then the stress involved should be much reduced.

PC PhoneHome differs from the other tracking solutions in that it does not require an annual subscription and is totally self sufficient, reporting not to a tracking center but to the laptop owner. This reduces the cost and ensures a user can pass information onto the law enforcement officer as quickly as it is received.

Although it may not be possible to physically stop a theft from occurring, there are ways to track it if the worst happens.

With seven years behind it, Cyber Angel software has developed into a neat little package, which, apart from its tracking capabilities, also offers a CyberAngel Secured Drive. This requires password authentication but, once in, allows the user to keep all confidential data in total privacy in this protected drive. With on-the-fly encryption, the user does not need to worry about any data being revealed if the laptop falls into the wrong hands, using a choice of encryption algorithms to protect it such as Rijndael - AES 128 or 256 bit encryption, Blowfish 128 or 448 bit, Twofish 128 or 256 bit, Triple DES or DES. The virtual drive created by CyberAngel is accessed with the users password and is supported by 32-bit device drivers for fast access with little or no drop in performance.

Having a laptop stolen can be stressful and demoralizing. But for many well-prepared, security conscious company executives it needn't be. ComputracePlus is an asset tracking software solution that can help to ease the problems associated with this type of loss, it can put control into the hands of the law enforcement officers that are assigned to your case and aid a swifter recovery. There is a high incidence of internal thefts reported with no way of catching the people responsible. But if employees also know that all equipment owned by their employers is easily traced through a solution such as ComputracePlus, many thefts might not occur.