For
This product performs extremely well; it produced excellent detection and disinfection rates across the whole of the August "wild" list. Also if you're concerned with bandwidth read on…
Against
Nothing.
Verdict
Your users will have no worries with this sitting on the desktop (and that's if they even know it's there). All configuration choices are made at the main administrator's console using the ePolicy Orchestrator. This provides extraordinary management control and delivers the protection you want with ease to each client.

Anti-virus solutions have come a long way since the need first arose for malicious code protection. The products of old were slow and didn't offer the features or the transparency we have now come to expect. Nor did these dinosaurs offer the central administration, graphical interfaces or scalability of today's anti-virus technology.

McAfee (a Network Associates business) have been developing best-of-breed anti-virus solutions since the early days and as such, these solutions are regarded by some as an integral part of their network security.

VirusScan Thin Client (TC) has much to offer the network security administrator. It provides the client machines with the best AV scenario - first-class protection without the need for any user intervention. In fact, unless the client machine is attacked by a virus, the only thing the user will see is a small shield icon in the bottom right-hand corner of their computer's taskbar.

If the user does experience a viral attack, VirusScan TC will disinfect the offending virus and pops up a warning screen if configured to do so. TC also provides a message for the user that the administrator may preconfigure into this pop-up screen such as "Please contact your administrator." That will be the extent of the user's acquaintance with the product and he or she will not be able to tamper with or switch off their computer's anti-virus protection - extremely important to the security of your network!

There is another scenario; an administrator may wish to make TC completely invisible to the end users. In effect, if this option is chosen there will be no icon, no short-cuts or warnings, zilch, no sign of it at all. If TC detects a virus the end user sees not a sausage - the whole work is done without any bells or whistles.

So why use VirusScan TC and not VirusScan? Well, TC provides a centrally managed solution that is remotely rolled out. It has a particularly small footprint of between 1 and 4Mb, so the impact on the client machine is minimal. All updates and configuration are entirely left up to the administrator and this solution is extremely practical for the laptop as well as the LAN/WAN. As bandwidth becomes scarce many networks suffer from down time and the last thing they need is more traffic. TC solves this by allowing the use of distributed deployment. This means that only part of the initial installation is sent directly to the target machine, with the rest of the installation components being picked up from a known location. This saves bandwidth, as does the intelligent updating that TC provides. Basically you only get what you need, no more - no less!

Updates are similarly managed, with only the most recent information being added to the signature files following the last retrieval of a weekly download. This provides for a neater updating; only one download is required onto a designated server within your network, from which the information can be recovered.

Of course TC delivers your anti-virus protection in an altered state, if compared to VirusScan. This is due to the smaller bandwidth usage and to reflect the minimized footprint of the solution, so things like VirusScan's on-demand scanner are not available in VirusScan TC 6.0. Nor is there the ability to schedule scans or scan email attachments. This in itself shouldn't prove problematic as you simply ensure GroupWare protection is in place to back up TC's protection. This will ensure that any infected emails that are forwarded without being opened or saved do not infect the next recipient's machine.

In the case where you wish to replace existing anti-virus protection, TC will completely uninstall most AV products as the TC installation takes place. This may be viewed as an excellent idea, but for anyone who has previously enjoyed the benefits offered by the use of two different vendor solutions, each chosen for their particular attributes, it will be a bitter pill to swallow. However, NAI aren't trying to tell you this solution is for everyone, and neither are we.

VirusScan TC is only ideal for certain corporate environments where the management of anti-virus is required in a simple and easily configured manner. It calls for a situation where AV needs to be delivered from a central console with an excellent user interface and above all one that provides no threat to bandwidth or slows client machines in a detrimental manner.

Many organizations have experienced problems finding well-trained security administrators and have joined the rush to find MSPs and ASPs to take over their security and do the donkey work for them. No longer deemed as an in-house job, these companies are able to provide managed solutions remotely and deliver the benefits of selected security solutions directly to the customer's site. VirusScan TC is one such solution. It gives you the choice to either set up one main site and control your AV solution in-house or factor it out - take your pick.

Finally, how does it perform? Well, as one has come to expect from a company that continues to produce best-of-breed solutions, VirusScan TC can certainly protect your network with as much gusto as it can muster!

We've already said on-demand scanning isn't part of the deal, nor is scheduled scanning. Also, email attachments are only dealt with by TC if they are opened or saved and so GroupWare protection is also needed, as is gateway protection to handle Java and ActiveX, but since these are basics that many organizations already have this would usually make little or no impact.

Detection rates and disinfection rates are impressive. The in-the-wild list produced for August 2000 proved no match for VirusScan TC. It galloped through this virus collection, providing 100 percent detection and disinfection - an excellent and not totally unexpected result.

In our all-risks virus set, made up from a variety of malicious codes, each with their own peculiarities and certainly not in any way ordinary, this solution only missed 4 viruses, which equates to an incredible 97.4 percent. That's quite an achievement, considering their peculiar characteristics!

One last point - VirusScan does its job as files are downloaded whereas VirusScan TC handles them as they are saved to disk; this is just a different method of detection and should provide no additional risk to users. As can be seen from the results that VirusScan TC provided, now you have a choice, and an informed choice goes a long way!

This solution provides a quality anti-virus protection with certain benefits not found in other similar products, so if bandwidth and management are of concern, VirusScan TC should certainly be considered.

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