Review: Border Guard

The main menu summarizes the IPS's state using a simple red, yellow, or green traffic signal light. Whenever data could be modified, however, Border Guard displayed context-sensitive help adjacent to the field. The explanations were easy to understand and did not require extreme technical acumen.

Border Guard was easy to understand and navigate. The embedded documentation protects the operator in a friendly manner from committing casual errors. Although an IPS (by definition) must provide a plethora of options and switches, Border Guard earns the highest approval ratings for its skill in concealing or revealing the internal details of an IPS, as well as guiding users at crucial stages. An unskilled user can install it in 30 minutes.

There are several ways to access the IPS. The product provides an application programming interface at the process-to-process level. From an end-user perspective, multiple consoles can be running simultaneously. When multiple users are logged into the same account, the first can write but the others are restricted to "read only."

Border Guard does not include a scripting language, but operators can customize rules through the user interface. Rules are based on Snort commands and are customized by modifying an existing rule. The device responded quickly and effectively to events.

Printed user documentation is plentiful and can also be downloaded from the website. Telephone, email and online support is available. StillSecure's technicians were available and responsive. Support staff were competent and polite on the phone.

The product is supplied as software only, so performance depends a great deal upon the platform on which it is installed.

For:

Easy to set up, comfortable to navigate, and it really streamlined the complex process of intrusion prevention without losing functionality.

Nothing much.

One of the best in terms of usage and installation.