How we tested
Interoperability
What operating systems and mail servers will the antivirus software support?
Futureproofing
Does the scanner support multiple antivirus engines from different vendors?
ROI
What will the software cost, including subscription to virus definition updates and support costs?
Service
What support is provided as standard and how much will ongoing support end up costing you?
- Performance. If you are evaluating the product on your mail server, ensure you record the performance before running the application so that once it is installed you can make sure the overhead is not too severe. This is particularly applicable if you have a high traffic e-mail server.
- Admin interface. How easy is it for the administrator to see what is going on at any given point in time?
- Policy creation and implementation. How easy is it for the administrator to create and apply a new policy? This is particularly crucial as a new threat could reveal itself at any time.
- Updates. How often are updates and how easy is it to update the antivirus engine and definition files? Does the vendor's application support multiple third-party AV engines and definitions?
- Platforms. For larger enterprises, look for vendors who support multiple platforms and applications so that perhaps a single vendor antivirus solution can be rolled out throughout the business for servers, firewalls, PDAs, desktops, etc.
Company: Khan's Cannery This company is worried about recent outbreaks of e-mail-borne viruses and wants to make sure its mail server is protected.
Approximate budget: Open. Requires: An e-mail antivirus filtering product that can plug into its Exchange 2000 server.
Concerns: Ease of integration with its Exchange server is the company's biggest worry. The ability to manage and configure the filters once they're in place will also be taken into account.
Best solution: Best choices are GFI MailSecurity and F-Secure Anti-Virus. Both are very easy to install, configure, and administer on an Exchange 2000 server. Their incorporation of several third-party virus engines and their administration monitoring facilities are excellent.
Editor's ChoiceTake your pick! With the variety of tools available in this category and their broad reach, we simply can't give a Editor's Choice award this month. However, an honorable mention must certainly go to NetBox for its network e-mail appliance which is suited for businesses up to 150 users.
Overall a very impressive array of tools designed to make the tasks and job ahead for the administrator as simple and straightforward as possible. Virtually any one of the applications in this review would certainly reinforce a company's front line security defences by providing antivirus scanning and policy creation right at the point where most of these malicious programs enter the local network providing a kind of filtered draw-bridge.
E-mail over the past few years has proven to be one of the most radical changes in company communications, however over recent months it has also increasingly become more and more a potential liability and security risk. With any luck, applications such as these along with anti-spam filters will bring the e-mail system in general back into the users' good books and allow it to be used in the way it was originally intended -- not as a mass marketing tool or a delivery system for network borne nasties.
Unfortunately mailmarshal's reporting of problems to the sender leaves a lot to be desired. It's reports are amongst the least useful of any mail gateway software on the market, failing to include the headers of the original message, and typically misidentifying or not identifying the sender and recipients.
As someone who sees a lot of bounces from mailing list traffic, I'm sick of not knowing which addresses are supposed to be removed from the list.