Symantec Endpoint Protection Small

Symantec Endpoint Protection Small @ Amazon.com

Overview:

Upgrading to Microsoft Windows 7 requires numerous tough conclusions when it comes to device control, a potential weak link in the effort to protect versus cyber attacks. With assorted selections available, which product ought to a company choose? The answer depends upon on two issues; scalability and level of device shelter required.

Our study looked at three device control products: DeviceLock, Symantec Endpoint Protection Device Control and Microsoft Device Manager, which is the inherent device control product included with the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system. Each product was evaluated using the same criteria.

Products:

The introductory product evaluated was DeviceLock. The company specializes in device control, is an industry leader, and has been selling it is merchandise since 1996. They offer low-cost licensing fees, which vary depending upon the size of the client’s business. Its key features include:

• High level of functionality with white/black listing

o Allows users to white/black list based on Vid_Pid

• Updates by way of group policy (GPO)

o Provides easy update capabilities, which will be necessitated with the always altering list of items to be white or black listed.

Providing the feature to list based on Vid_Pid allows organizations to block/allow the gimmicks they wish to by entering the Vid_Pid of a device, rather of entering a distinguishable string which is given to all devices. In terms of scalability, this feature makes the DeviceLock product a great option for all size organizations. The main setback with this company is the lack of client support. The third level of help for this product is the president of the company.

The second product evaluated was Symantec Endpoint Protection Device Control. Many organizations presently run Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) for anti-virus and firewall protection. SEP likewise provides the functionality to handle device control with no further and added licensing costs or fees. This means that companies may be capable to handle their device control issues with SEP, rather of incurring extra disbursements for an further and added product. The key features of the product include:

• Ability for configuration at the client level

• Functionality to log changes with built in reporting

• Symantec is the industry leader in security and has been in the market one to two years longer than DeviceLock

• Symantec also offers great client support

o Assigning a technical account manager to each client

The setbacks with the product are as follows. First, SEP will not update by way of GPO. Second, it is possible to control person devices, but only with complex policy work. Third, SEP Device Control does not give users the capacity to white/black list by Vid_Pid’s. Finally, the product may use active directory (AD), but it will not be effective if there is no unification amid business units within an organization. Meaning that if laptops, desktops and servers are not classified in the same organizational unit, all over all business units within an organization, then SEP Device Control will not be competent to be managed using AD.

Overall, the SEP Device Control product has the potential to efficaciously protect an establishment if the establishment has unification amidst all business units, which often times is not the case with huge companies. This factor shows that SEP Device Control may not be the best substitute for big organizations, but may work for little and medium sized firms.

The third product evaluated was Microsoft Device Manager, which comes with the Microsoft Windows 7 operating scheme (OS). This is Microsoft’s firstborn try at device control, which may account for it is fixed functionality. The key element behind using Microsoft Device Manager is that it is a portion of the OS; hence all companies running Windows 7 may use the product with no further and added fees. This may also pose a problem in companies that have yet to switch all of their computers to the Windows 7 OS, because the desktop management interface is not backwards compatible. This means that firms can not manage widgets on Windows XP machines if they are using the Windows 7 Device Manager. The second positive aspect is the broad support provided by Microsoft for it is products. The final key aspect of the product is that it does update thru GPO.

The negatives of the Microsoft Device Manager product are spacious and include the following:

• White/Black listing limited

o Cannot use Vid_Pid

o Must enter each widgets distinguishable string into the system

o Time consuming

• Cannot lock per user or group

o Can only allow/block access for all users

• Since the product is new there is fixed documentation on how to configure the product

Taking this info into consideration, it is clear to see that the Microsoft Device Manager is far too basic for most business environments. At this point in time the product seems more suitable to person users rather than corporations.

Conclusion:

Our conclusion is that the DeviceLock product is the best solution for both big and little companies. This product has the functionality to efficaciously handle all levels of shelter involving device control. The SEP Device Control product may be capable to work for sure little to medium sized companies, but going with the DeviceLock product will concede the company to grow and not have to worry in regards to migrating to a new form of device control. At this point in time, the Microsoft Device Manager product is new to the market and does not yet have the functionality to serve as a device control product for any size firm.

Symantec Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition delivers enterprise-class antivirus and malware shelter that is optimized for little business computing environments and meets your distinctive security needs.