Web Informant.tv

strom — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:29:10 +0000

Learning about proxies in the news, see post on http://strominator.com

Using Tricipher’s MyOneLogin

strom — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:08:29 +0000

A single-sign on, two-factor authentication portal that is easy to setup and deploy for both internal and external Web and other resources.

Price: $30 per user per year subscription service (or $3/mo/user)
Requirements: Runs on Windows IE v6 and above, Firefox v3 on both Windows and Mac
We tested the service on a variety of browsers on both computers during June 2009.

Pros:
 Simple to setup and deploy without any programming or security skills required
 Hosted service, no software to install on the desktop
 Powerful management controls for business users

Cons:
 Reports and event logging somewhat difficult to parse
 Doesn’t completely support Safari browsers

MyOneLogin.com
Tricipher Corp.

http://www.myonelogin.com/

650.376.8326
750 University Avenue #260, Los Gatos, CA 95032

Managing your VMware ESX infrastructure with the HyTrust Appliance

strom — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 04:10:03 +0000

HyTrust offers managers and administrators of VMware’s ESX virtual infrastructure a centralized, single point of control for hypervisor configuration, compliance, and access management that is both secure and easy to use through ordinary Web browsers.

We tested the RC version of the product in March 2009 by making a remote connection to HyTrust’s own test lab.

Supports:
– ESX version 3.5 only (not ESXi)
– Works with Internet Explorer and Firefox, most current versions.
– Both Windows Server 2003/2008 domain controllers

Price: $7,500 for the appliance ($3,000 for software only) plus $500 per CPU ESX socket protected plus 25% for maintenance and support per year. Free version available to protect up to three ESX hosts but without any support contract.

Pros:
– A solid collection of tools to secure your VMware ESX infrastructure
– Integrates with Active Directory and VMware vCenter policies
– Fully functional freeware version allows for experimenting and learning before purchase

Cons:
– Limited to ESX currently
– Log viewer could be better integrated into the product

HyTrust Appliance
1975 W. El Camino Real, Suite 203
Mountain View, CA 94040
650-681-8100
hytrust.com

Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Servers

strom — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:36:02 +0000

An online backup server that covers a wide range of servers and services, this latest version includes the ability to protect Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange servers, VMware Infrastructure, and other sophisticated environments.

We tested Version 12.5 on a small test network with Windows Server 2008 and Mac and Windows clients.

Requirements: Windows 2000/2003/2008 Servers,
Price: $995 for one license, additional agents varies in price from $395 to $3195, depending on what you need to backup.

Symantec Corp.

http://symantec.com/backupexec

20330 Stevens Creek Blvd.
Cupertino, CA 95014

Pros:

Easy to setup and operate
Free 60 day trial helps you test out the service and become familiar with its operation
Granular Recovery Technology allows easy restoration of accidentally deleted files, emails, or documents.
VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V virtual server data protection that is easy to manage
Integrated online backup for flexible off-site data protection

Cons:

Some of the menus are a bit densely packed, such as the Job Setup screens
This is not a product for single server environments (there is a separate version for Microsoft’s Small Business Server that is more appropriate)

Deploying applications using Symantec’s Endpoint Virtualization Suite

strom — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:01:32 +0000

The suite covers three separate products that have been acquired over the years by Symantec for applications delivery via streaming or virtual layers and a connection broker technology that allows enterprises to manage the way their applications are packaged and delivered to users’ desktops.

We tested Version 6.1 on various test machines in February 2009.

Requirements: Windows XP SP 1 or better with Java J2SE Runtime 5.0 update 6, Windows Server 2003/2008, Windows 2000, Windows Vista

Price: $360 (concurrent license), $270 (per node) for entire suite, Streaming + Virtualization $68, Virtualization only $44. Substantial volume license discounts.

Pros:
• Powerful software management for multiple use cases so that enterprises can configure and deliver a wide variety of applications and situations
• Granular virtualization layer technology
• Competitive price for the features that are included
Cons:
• Complex setup with multiple moving parts
• No common policy management across the various software modules
• Multiple management consoles for each software module

Symantec Endpoint Virtualization Suite
Symantec Corp.

http://symantec.com/

20330 Stevens Creek Blvd.
Cupertino, CA 95014

Online reputation management using McAfee’s Trusted Source

strom — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:45:07 +0000

TrustedSource and other sites are used to answer questions such as – is someone sending spam that looks like it is coming from my domain, called spoofing? Has my Web site been compromised recently? Do I have an open relay email server that I don’t know about? The Internet is a nasty place, and the idea that a service can be watching globally for exploits is a good one.

TrustedSource.org
Secure Computing Inc.
55 Almaden Boulevard, Suite 500
San Jose, CA 95113
408.494.2020

Category: Internet reputation management
Free service, although registration required for additional features
Summary: TrustedSource has a variety of tools to investigate spoofing, spamming, and bot net proliferation that is taking place using your domain names. It is also included as part of a series of products offered by Secure Computing and others as a way of providing real-time threat blocking services.
Pros: Easy to use, a wide variety of information is presented in clear detail
Cons: It is a lot like brushing your teeth; you need to develop a daily habit of checking your site.

Building better workflows using Altiris Workflow Solution from Symantec

strom — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:39:19 +0000

Symantec’s Altiris Workflow Solution v 6.0 is a series of products that were acquired from LogicBase called TLogic. Used together, they can help you automate virtually any IT process or workflow and imbed business logic into the processes too. The product can be useful for something that requires repetitive human interaction, such as designed an automated system for gambler’s comp packages at a casino to keeping track of cleaned rooms at a hospital. Almost any type of process or Workflow can be automated with Workflow Solution.

We tested the product in August 2008 on a prebuilt virtual machine that was supplied by Symantec.

AltirisSalesInfo@symantec.com, 888-252-5551

http://www.symantec.com

Requirements: Windows Server 2003 or later. Symantec’s Altiris Notification Server and several other Altiris SDK and developer tools (free)

Price: $25,000 for server and designer, additional designer licenses are $4,000 each
Category: Workflow management
Pros: Sophisticated models can be built with little programming expertise
Cons: There are a lot of moving parts to assemble before you can begin working

Protecting your messaging network with McAfee’s Secure Mail

strom — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:36:47 +0000

McAfee/Secure Computing’s Secure Mail email security appliance combines several different but complementary protection technologies for both inbound and outbound emails in one easy-to-setup box. While lots of vendors have anti-spam products, Secure Mail offers a superior way to stay ahead of the constantly changing and increasingly sophistication of spammers, and the company guarantees it can block 99% of unwanted inbound emails. It also has a wide range of outbound protective features that can help corporations be in compliance with various reporting rules such as SoX and PCI.

Product category: Email security appliance
Pricing: Base unit starts at $1,995, plus an additional $13.00 per user/year, lower for multi-year contracts and for more than 500 user networks. There are more powerful and costly appliances for larger networks.

We tested version the S10 appliance, which is the smallest and least expensive unit, running software version 6.7 on a small network in September 2008.

Secure Computing www.securecomputing.com 1-800-379-4944
55 Almaden Boulevard, Suite 500, San Jose, CA 95113

Pros:
• Dashboard shows you status at-a-glance
• Almost all critical features managed by a Web browser
• Combines inbound and outbound email protection with global intelligence features of TrustedSource.org

Cons:
• Changing startup configuration values once you complete the wizard can be tricky to find the right input screens
• Reports can be difficult to interpret

Protecting your small business network with Napera’s appliance

strom — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:32:46 +0000

Napera’s appliance works in conjunction with Microsoft’s Network Access Protection (NAP), and will support three different operating systems: XP with Service Pack 3, Vista, and Mac OS X. It allows for guest and identity-based access. It installs a small agent on each device that is used for the health check, and to help secure your computer and guide you with the remediation process. It also works with both wired and wireless networks too.

Category: Endpoint network security appliance

Pricing: $3495 for 24 gigabit managed ports. There are also stackable add-ons when you have larger networks. While this is expensive compared to other managed switches (Dell sells one for $500), it is a bargain when compared to full-featured NAC products from Cisco and others.

Pros:
Easy to use and setup
No Windows servers required to operate NAP

Cons:
Only Windows XP with SP3supported
Browsers must be at least IE7, Firefox 2 or Safari 3
Windows agents use Active X to install themselves

Napera Networks Inc 9423 SE 36th St Mercer Island, WA 98040
425 747 7142 http://www.napera.com
version tested: N24 v1.2.1

Protecting your Web browsing with McAfee’s Web Protection Service

strom — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:29:00 +0000

McAfee/Secure Computing’s Secure Web Protection service offers a proxy server to protect both malware and not-worksafe Web sites. It is a simple and unbotrusiveway to protect your browsing. It isn’t useful for protecting Web servers from inbound attacks, for example, and shouldn’t substitute for a fully-featured intrusion appliance, but it can protect individuals and small networks especially with a lot of home-based and remote office users. It is based on the company’s experience with both its TrustedSource reputation management (see the separate review here) and its Secure Web security appliances.

Version: 1.0

Secure Computing www.securecomputing.com 55 Almaden Boulevard, Suite 500, San Jose, CA 95113
Product category: Web filtering and malware protection service
Pricing: 30-day free trial of the service for up to 250 users.
12 month subscription for both malware and filtering is $5 a month per user for 25 users. Quantity discounts available, and just filtering is less.

We tested the beta version of the service on a small network in September 2008.

Pros:
• Dashboard shows you status at-a-glance and easy to setup
• All critical features managed by a Web browser
• Uses the global intelligence features of TrustedSource.org

Cons:
• Service needs improvement to stop malware from entering via SSL connections