management

The Sybari Antigen suite consists of components that cover Exchange, SharePoint and Domino, the first of which was submitted for this Group Test. The software includes the Central and Quarantine Managers and Job Scheduler.

F-Secure's offering includes several components: a Policy Manager (the hub of the suite), an Anti-Virus Management Wizard and the Policy Manager Reporting Option.

The Gordano Message Suite is not an anti-virus solution per se, it is a complete web-based messaging system with email, instant messaging, calendar feature and message filtering. The whole lot is managed from a central web console which is clean and consistent, with the exception of a Windows utility to add users to the database.

The LANDesk Management Suite, previously owned by Intel, is the only product in this Group Test which is not in fact an anti-virus solution at all. It offers network management and software deployment, which is basically what anti-virus management is all about anyway.

McAfee is one of the best-known names in anti-virus, and we expected impressive results from testing ePolicy Orchestrator 2.5. The product is capable of managing several anti-virus solutions, including McAfee's own and Symantec's Norton, with support for others in the pipeline. Although policies for separate products are configured individually, the integrated management interface will immediately be useful to large enterprises with multiple anti-virus solutions.

Sophos sent us the Sophos Enterprise Manager suite, which really consists of two components. SAVAdmin controls client activities, and the Enterprise Manager collects updates and software packages for deployment.

The Trend Micro Control Manager is designed to manage Trend Micro's many and varied anti-virus products. This is another company which has made strong moves into Unix platforms, with products for Linux, Solaris and HPUX.

ViRobot is a lesser-known anti-virus solution from Korean developer Global HAURI. It is not really a newcomer - it has been in the market since 1998 - but it has taken until recent times to really start to make a mark in Western markets.

The basis of any policy management tool is the ability to manage its users and to recognize potential problem areas. Some do this without agents and others prefer to manage policy enforcement with agents residing on both workstations and servers. This is the case for Symantec Enterprise Security Manager, which uses the agents as its means of communication between its networked machines, enabling timely updates and compliance reports.

Symantec Enterprise Security Manager has already established itself in the policy management solutions market. This particular solution ensures that policies are intrinsically complied with throughout the organization, as well as maintaining system security through recognizing changes that could affect the security of the network.

Using control information files (CIF) the product can be managed from a central console, but in a large organization you may require more than one. Agents provide the means for the information to be collected across a distributed network to ensure updates are accomplished at regular intervals. Changes can be identified and the appropriate action taken, while logs and reports may be generated for further analysis.

Recently acquired by NetIQ, VigilEnt Policy Center provides a policy management tool that ensures users are aware of their responsibilities while providing solid policy control across the company network.

This is a corporate-level security solution and requires a user database to allow you to import users so that user groups can be established. The policies can then be set for these groups, with users being required to answer questions to establish understanding and compliance. Logs are kept to view user input and also to define problem areas. This performance-related system means that users know how to use company data and they learn what is required of them, while the administrator can see statistics and reports. Users not complying can be identified and an email can be sent to them to remind them of its significance. This ensures that not only do your employees comply with your policies, but your company can prove compliance with the regulators and specifically with ISO 17799.

You can stipulate certain user rights to allow for policies to be reviewed prior to publication and distribution. But of course you may use pre-written policies, amend them or create your own, as required by your own particular corporate needs.

Each enterprise will look long and hard at how they implement their corporate security policy. While many administrators look to implement an enterprise-wide solution, some may look to deliver specific policy management features for areas that their particular enterprise rates as high risk.

This means that in order to deliver policy management across all electronic communication a specific policy solution will be required that specializes in this particular function.

Unlike the other products in this Group Test Web Inspector is neither system policy management or email policy management, but in fact an internet compliance tool that uses policy to set its users' boundaries. Suitable as a single installation for the smaller enterprise, this solution easily scales up to a distributed deployment over a large network.

Policy starts with access control, ensuring that users only have the rights assigned by the administrator in line with your corporate policy. Whether you choose to assign the same rights across the network or drill down your policy into user groups, sites, or individual users or workstations, is your choice. Policies can be created to suit your needs and ensure that only the web pages that your company deems necessary are viewed within work hours, allowing for the organization to permit safe surfing on non-business sites at stipulated times.

There are now many policy management tools for the control of email usage, and that need arises from the growing requirements that increasing legislation has put on companies. Policy Patrol is one such solution, ensuring that certain criteria are being met, and reducing the risk to the enterprise by monitoring communications and filtering out according to a rule set.

There are pre-set policies that allow the new installation to be put in place quickly and effectively while new policies are written.

In this Group Test we have looked at a number of solutions, all designed to manage your critical policy management and to ensure corporate policy is adhered to across even the largest networks.

This particular solution is for Windows 2000 users only; it sets, manages and backs up policies across your whole network without the need for agents. Designed specifically to replace the built-in utilities that are provided with Windows 2000 networks, it also allows the management of multiple domains in unison.

We've looked at PoliVec Builder in the past, a policy development tool from the same stable. Part of the PoliVec suite, PoliVec Enforcer integrates seamlessly with its policy development tool counterpart to keep the enterprise secure.

Therefore, policy can be locked down to stop system changes and policy non-compliance from weakening the protected network infrastructure. Extensive reporting enables a precise picture of your network and real-time monitoring ensures that notification of problems can be dealt with in a timely fashion.

Policy enforcement is only as good as your management system allows, so a serious vulnerability could go unnoticed without prior knowledge of the problem.

Security Expressions allows deployment using no-agent technology to ensure that, once installed on either Windows NT or 2000 systems, the administrator can add machines within a group, that are required to adhere to the policies that pertain to that group.

There is another aspect of security that is often overlooked in the rush to install firewalls, anti-virus software and email management systems, and yet it is possibly the oldest aspect of them all. Many people bemoan the days when they could leave their doors unlocked and not worry - and that was because there was a large degree of trust in the community. Exactly the same is true of many of the new business practices that the internet has made possible. Whereas a deal might once have been sealed with a handshake, over the impersonal internet that isn't possible. Or is it? One company that has long believed that it is, and has become the market leader in asserting it through its technologies, is RSA.

RSA Keon Core PKI Product Suite is a set of powerful applications which will allow you to construct a complete public key infrastructure (PKI) to allow trusted communication over the internet. After installation you will have the Keon CA (certificate authority) and the Keon RA (registration authority) applications present on your machine. The former issues digital certificates, while the latter processes applications for the certificates. You will also be able to generate public and private keys for encryption and decryption.

Novell is no stranger to access management; such functionality was built into its NetWare operating system from day one, and is an integral part of its Directory Services offering. So, it comes as no surprise to see a standalone Novell product in this Group Test.