Trend Micro OfficeScan 5

Office Scan 5 is the latest anti-virus solution from Trend Micro. It acts as a protective umbrella between client machines and the Internet traffic (HTTP, FTP and mails), which are the basic channels for virus infections these days. The key features of this anti-virus include centralized Web-based management and deployment to remote clients. It can also send automated alerts of virus outbreaks through e-mail or pager to the IT manager or network administrator. It gives statistical and graphical reports which helps the IT managers analyze how critical is the virus outbreak. It also automatically updates and upgrades the anti-virus from a central server thereby minimizing administrative overheads. 

Installing and deploying the anti-virus solution across your network is quite easy. It has virus protection for both Windows and Unix-based clients. For remote deployment, you need to select and add the domains and workgroups on your LAN along with the machines in each to your OfficeScan server. The Web interface then automatically installs the anti-virus to the selected client machines by verifying the client’s administrative user name and password. For centralized management, you can choose between an HTTP- or file-based OfficeScan server. We used the HTTP-based Office Scan server, and its Web interface is well organized and easy to navigate through a Web browser. You can view graphical reports of virus outbreaks on your network through a Web browser. You can even schedule automatic client updates, and much more from this console. 

We installed OfficeScan on a Windows 2000 Server running IIS 6. We tested the software against various viruses floating around nowadays like PE_FunLove.4099 and Worm_Klez.H. The anti-virus was able to identify these, and quarantine them.

We also tested it against Trojans like BackOrifice, and it was able to detect them without any problems. The software comes with three CDs, which include clients for both Windows and Unix platforms. 

The Bottom Line: A good choice for offices, which need a hassle free anti-virus solution. 

Sanjay Majumder at PCQ Labs