Print
Discuss
Send to friend
Kaspersky Labs markets a range of anti-virus and anti-spam solutions for home and business users. The Anti-Virus Business Optimal suite is aimed at companies with networks of up to 500 users. However, there are no hard and fast limits on numbers and larger organisations can buy the Kaspersky Corporate Suite (£22 ex VAT per node) to get all the Business Optimal modules.
Business Optimal is a pick-and-mix solution, consisting of a number of components split into three groups. The first provides protection for desktops with a choice of Kaspersky Anti-Virus modules for both Windows (98 up) and Linux workstations. The second covers file servers with modules for Windows (NT/2000/2003) and Linux deployments, with support for Red Hat, Suse and Debian, plus FreeBSD and OpenBSD platforms. A Novell Netware module is available and a separate module works with Linux-hosted Samba servers.
The third group provides anti-virus protection for email servers via modules for Exchange Server (5.5, 2000 and 2003) and Lotus Notes/Domino, plus another to work with Sendmail, Postfix, Exim and QMail on Linux hosts. Some other mail servers (such as MDaemon) use the Kaspersky engine, but there is no general SMTP mail server integration other than for those mentioned.
The same anti-virus engine is used throughout, with flexible options to check for and either delete or quarantine suspect files. This can be done in batch mode according to a preset schedule and/or whenever files are accessed. In most modules you can only scan files that have changed since they were last checked, to minimise the processing time required ð a technology referred to as Ichecker. Compressed and archived files can be scanned, and you can perform realtime checks for memory-resident viruses. Each module can be kept up to date either by connecting to Kaspersky servers online or by using a local server as an intermediate store. Updates can then be scheduled as required and each module has built-in alerting and reporting facilities which, although basic, cover most requirements.
Management is straightforward and involves making sure updates are obtained according to the correct schedule and that appropriate scanning and detection options are selected. Standard policy files can be created and used to enforce compliance, and a separate administration kit is provided to remotely install and manage the software over a TCP/IP network.
The administration kit can also co-ordinate the response to an attack reported by multiple stations on the network. However, the version we looked at was limited to managing Windows servers and workstations via a custom Win32 interface. A separate MMC (Microsoft Management Console) plug-in was required to manage the Exchange module locally, while Netware servers were set up and managed using Novell?s Console One and Linux platforms through a custom console or web interface. This makes for difficult deployment on a large, mixed platform network, something Kaspersky will be addressing in the next release of the administration kit (V5.0) which, we are told, will be able to manage all the Business Optimal modules.
Currently in beta development, the V5 release will be implemented as a Windows MMC snap-in and, in addition to multiplatform support, will make it possible to apply anti-virus policies on a group by group basis and manage licences centrally. Reporting and alerting facilities are enhanced in the new administration kit, which will be able to manage networks of up to 5,000 nodes.
This software has a lot to offer, with fast scanning times minimising the impact on other applications. We were impressed with the speed at which the company released new virus signatures during our tests. However, you can?t send viruses back to the developers for identification automatically and the administration kit needs to be sorted out. Those were the only real flaws in an otherwise good corporate anti-virus solution.
Contact: Kaspersky Labs 0870 0113 465
www.kaspersky.co.uk
Price details:
Price £7.11 (£6.05 ex VAT) per workstation/mailbox (500+ nodes), £141 (£120 ex VAT) per server
Back to corporate anti-virus tools group test
See also:
An anti-virus tool named after a popular Czech TV show. 13 May 2004
The business version of Symantec's well known anti-virus tool. 11 May 2004
All Antivirus & Firewalls
del.icio.us
Digg this
reddit!
