Sophos Antivirus

Sophos anti-virus is a network solution available for a
number of operating systems, including OpenVMS and the Mac. We checked out the
NT version. This can be deployed across an NT/2000 network from a central
NT/2000 workstation. The software is capable of disinfecting macro viruses (in
DOC, DOT, XLS, etc, files) but, though it detects, it does not disinfect
executable files (EXE, COM, etc). The reason given is that the process of
disinfecting EXE or COM files may result in the files themselves getting damaged
or corrupt. It does not work with zipped files. These files can be detected and
Sophos can be customized to shred (delete infected files from within the zip),
move, delete or copy the infected files to secure your system. The software can
detect and remove any trojan affected files. But it can’t disinfect them.

The application works in three ways. First is Intercheck,
which is quite similar to the auto-protect feature in Norton Antivirus. This
runs in the background while you are working on the PC and does real-time
monitoring for infections. The second is an immediate mode, called the Sweep,
which can be invoked at any time to do a scan of either the server or any
client. The third is automated scan. Under this the application can scan the
systems on the network unattended. Using this scheduling feature you can
schedule anti-virus checking at a given time on a given day. A machine can be
scanned even when a particular user is not logged onto the network.

A notable feature incorporated in Sophos antivirus is SAVI (Sophos
Anti-Virus Interface). This is simply an enabler to integrate the Sophos
antivirus with products that you may develop.

Sophos automatically updates the anti-virus engine and
definitions of the client part installed on the PCs in the network from the
server. The product is updated every month and the updates can be downloaded or
can be received via e-mail. As and when a new virus strikes, the Virus IDE (the
identifier for the scanning engine to use) becomes available. You also have the
option of getting the virus information on FAX. The text in the FAX then need to
be typed manually and saved as an IDE file.

The customer support for the product is also good and several
mail sent to them were replied the same day with precise answers. A free
evaluation version valid for a month is available at www.sophos. com.

The anti-virus is able to detect viruses efficiently and in
our trials it could detect all of the viruses we mustered. However, its pricing
as compared to other anti-virus software say Norton or McAfee, is bit on the
higher side.

Ankur Saxena at PCQ labs