secure

Preventon Secure Internet Desktop or PSID for short, is an amalgam of all of the company's products in a multi-function suite. The software is available in two versions - an ISP edition that relies upon the subscription service for ISPs in order to maintain, update and interact with the client software on the user's desktop, and a desktop version that functions on a standalone basis. The ISP version of the Personal Firewall PRO is already available to subscribers of Planet Internet in the Netherlands, at a subscription price of just over a pound a month (€1.95) and other ISPs are expected to sign up to the service in due course.

This suite of applications consists of the main Sygate Management Server, Security Agent for servers and workstations, a VPN and wireless security application. These enforce security policies at those particular entry points onto the corporate LAN. The idea behind this is to secure as many points of the network from one suite of applications, and it certainly appears to work well enough.

This solution is again reliant on enterprise management, but for the teleworker who requires a standalone solution BlackICE PC Protection is still available. RealSecure Desktop Protector (formally known as BlackICE Agent for Workstations) is the enterprise version.

We have looked at solutions that are purely based within the teleworker's domain, but we are also taking the view that some organizations of the larger variety may wish to impose server-based network and system security solutions on their remote users.

Sygate Technologies says that its policy enforcement ensures remote connections over a VPN are not exposed to hijacking of data. It ensures remote authentication is only made if the user conforms to the policy set in force. This makes a lot of sense.

What Sygate Secure Enterprise provides is the ability to maintain certain rules, even for remote users. These include whether their firewall is current and configured correctly, if the remote user's anti-virus is up to corporate specifications and, equally important, up to date. These are just a few example of areas where compliance may be required.

At the heavy duty end of the market, SSH Secure Shell for Windows Server offers enough security for even the most paranoid network administrator. Already recognized as one of the most popular applications for creating secure sessions in Unix, it is now available for Windows, replacing such protocols as Telnet or FTP with a hardened connectivity solution for those businesses that require more than usual security for data transfer.

TFS Technology has taken a holistic approach to the whole subject of internet and email security, and the result is the extremely powerful Secure Messaging Server. The server acts as a firewall, ensuring that infected inbound emails don't get anywhere near your network.

Installation and configuration (Windows only) are simple and an application, TFS Administrator, does most of the hard work for you. This application is used for all configuration tasks, unless you want to do this remotely, in which case another product, TFS Secure Messaging Manager, allows this through a web browser. The Manager is also responsible for the security functions of the product.