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Entrust GetAccess is a web access control solution that provides web portal security and identity management. It supports a variety of authentication methods including passwords, certificates, tokens and biometrics. It provides flexibility for the rules enforced for user passwords as well as maintaining password histories.

eToken Enterprise provides a more cost-effective solution than SSOs to the problem of users having a different login credentials to Windows networks and the web based resources they use.

The Digipass pack product from Vasco is perhaps less of a product in the accepted sense and more of a security philosophy – the philosophy in question being that of dynamic, one-time password creation using portable tokens.

The ECHOsystem from Fizians Inc. is certainly different. It uses audio to transmit the equivalent of a dynamic password across the network for user authentication purposes.

Entrust is known for its expertise in managing and securing digital identities, and the Entrust USB token is a two-factor authentication product worthy of the company's reputation. The token is based upon the Rainbow Technologies iKey 2032 device, a proven product.

The SecuriKey Personal Edition is a single-user solution providing secure access to your workstation.

The SecuriKey Authentication System (Professional Version 1.2) is a straightforward product which supplements a conventional password with a USB token key to provide two-factor authentication.

ActivCard knows how to provide products for review – they sent us software kits for Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris, complete with manuals and supporting literature.

This was complemented by three smartcard readers, a PCMCIA reader, USB tokens and smartcards.

This is a comprehensive and flexible product upon which may be built an equally comprehensive access security model. It is scalable and facilitates the management of both local and remote network access within various environments and, if required, across multiple authentication servers.

To many employees, the RSA SecurID tokens are a familiar sight, as is the procedure for logging in to a TCP/IP network using a onetime dynamic password technique embodied by this approach.

This software fared well enough in our tests, although some peculiarities raised a few warning signals. It installs easily, with separate AV and Exchange components, and an optional management interface. A reboot is required, after which mail scanning was switched off by default and had to be enabled.

Aladdin's eSafe did well enough and has some features that would be particularly useful during an outbreak, but performance was nothing special. Although eSafe is up to version 4 now, that version is purely appliance-oriented. The last version to support Exchange was 3.5, which the company still sells and supports (for now) despite its focus on moving away from that side of the business towards its Linux-based appliance version.

In last year's anti-virus management group test, Hauri's product impressed us with a slick interface and strong set of features. In this test, first impressions were similar. Configuration was quick and easy and the interface excellent - limited options compared to other products, but ample for most users. No reboot was required and the software demanded confirmation that the empty admin password required was in fact correct.

Kaspersky has come up trumps with very fast software with some neat features. Queuing the mail was just moments slower than the top runners with 49 minutes, but processing was fastest of the lot at 107, and it nearly tops the efficiency chart too, with 4,055 scanned.

Norman delivered quick and efficient performance, with acceptable, but unexceptional, reporting. Installation required Norman Virus Control to be installed first, for the AV engine. No reboot was required and, if anything, a surprising lack of feedback resulted - the software just quietly went to work with the default server configuration.

This test was a surprise, with performance and default settings letting Symantec down, although the presentation couldn't be better.

Trend Micro offers a product that comes more or less in the middle of the charts throughout this test, doing nothing spectacularly well, but not making any major mistakes either.

Softwin's BitDefender looks and feels rather like an old-school anti-virus product, but its performance belies its exterior. The product integrates with Microsoft's VS-API for Exchange. Installing it required a restart.

Adhaero Doc is not a general-purpose encryption product, but it uses encryption technology to secure Microsoft Office files throughout their lifecycle. It also integrates with Microsoft Outlook to provide the same protection to emails. It is best described as a digital rights management product.

Dekart Security Suite comprises four separate applications that support all 32-bit versions of Windows and share the same two-factor authentication feature, which uses a PIN code and a USB token or smart card. You can use most third-party tokens and smart cards. Additionally, most types of Bio API and HA API compatible biometric verification devices are supported.