[WEB4LIB] virus checker for public computers

[Andrew Mutch]

Stacy,

I'll put in a plug for F-Secure. We run it on all of our PCs and on our servers. I
am very satisfied with it. I haven't noticed any performance drag from it and we
have a it running on a wide range of computers with Windows 98, NT 4 and 2000.

I looked at several of the enterprise products before settling on F-Secure.
F-Secure runs from a central server which can be used to manage all of the client
PCs and servers. The clients poll the server for updates and automatically download
new updates when they become available. All of this is done via HTTP which helps
simplify firewall issues. It also makes it a lot easier to manage remote clients on
slow or remote LAN/WAN connections. Among the features I like about F-Secure are:

* Server automatically downloads new updates from F-Secure
* Clients automatically download new updates from server
* Ability to create multiple "policies" for different groups of computers - this
allows us to lockdown the interface on public PCs but allow more access on staff
PCs.
* Manage computers based on computer name, not user name.
* Ability to manage all clients from a single administrative module, which can be
run remotely from the central server.

Many of the competitors also have these features. But F-Secure seemed to have the
best overall package. The features that helped us select F-Secure over the
competition included:

* Daily updates of definition files - F-Secure seems to do a better job of having
updates available quickly.
* Experience with F-Prot: In the past, we had used the F-Prot free DOS scanner when
our previous anti-virus solution failed to pick up a virus. Almost every time,
F-Prot picked up the viruses that our other product missed.
* License covers all aspects of your network. Our F-Secure license allows us to
install it on all of our PCs, servers, firewall and Exchange Server. Although we
use other solutions for our firewall and Exchange server, I like that they offer
that all under one license. Let me know if you have any questions!

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI


Stacy Pober wrote:

> Most of our campus uses Norton/Symantic virus software, but I hate how it slows
> down the systems. We also had some problems with it being very slow in updating
> virus definition files (I think they had more demand than their servers could
> handle at the time.)
>
> I am considering getting licenses for one of the alternative virus checkers,
> such as InoculateIT from Computer Associates or AVG from Grisoft.  I used that
> one when it was free and found that it didn't use system resources as much as
> the Norton virus software.  Out of frugality, I'm now using AVG's  free version
> on my home computers and have had no problems with it.
>
> Anyone want to recommend or warn me off of any particular virus products?
>
> Best,
> Stacy Pober
> Information Alchemist
> Manhattan College Library
> http://www.manhattan.edu/library/
> stacy.pober at manhattan.edu
>
>
>
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