REVIEW
108 MacDirectory
Few Mac users worry about viruses, yet
this complacency leaves us open to the
very real threat of malware. All it takes is
to click on a "close" button on a
suspicious popup or a "play" button on
some video streaming site and within a
few hours the contents of your hard drive
is sitting on some crook's server while
another critter waits for you reveal your
credit card information during your next
online purchase.
A serious threat requires a serious
solution. Considering the popularity of
running Windows on a Mac, and keeping
small businesses in mind, we searched for
a security solution that would be
comprehensive, cross-platform, and that
would offer device control, email
protection, encryption, in addition to a full
range of malware and virus protection.
What we found was Sophos Security
Suite, Small Business Edition.
Features
Sophos has three small business offerings: a
basic antivirus application, a full-featured
package for workgroups of up to 100
clients, and a similar suite that also
supports networks running MS Exchange.
For our purposes, we selected the Sophos
Computer Security package, which costs
$247 for a five-client
one-year
subscription.
For a detailed
description of the
features,
technologies, and
capabilities of this
package, go to
.
Suffice it to say that
the SCS package
offers all of the
above capabilities
plus many more, a
few examples
including the
protection for mobile
devices, threats from
instant messaging,
VoIP, and remote
administration, as
well as secure
sharing, secure deletion, and the ability to
sniff out as-yet unknown viruses.
The heart of the package is the Windows-
only administration application, Sophos
Control Center, which can be run on a
Mac using a Windows partition. All
administration, including permissions,
updates, scans, etc., is handled via the
Control Center, yet clients can also initiate
scans and updates on their own if desired
Other than the Windows admin
requirement, the only platform issue is
that Mac clients must be installed locally
rather than remotely.
Hands-On
In our tests we used a range of systems
that included a Macbook, graphite G4, a
G4 iBook, a Lenovo Thinkpad, and an 8-
core Nehalem Mac Pro with a
VMWare
Fusion
Windows partition for the control
center. The PCs were running XP SP3 and
the Macs were running OS X 10.3, 10.4,
10.5 and 10.6. All we needed to do was
download the software and run the
installer. From that point we could have
simply followed the manual, but we
decided to place a call to Sophos tech
support and see what they could do.
Thanks to Sophos'
LogMeIn-based remote
access system, the support person logged
onto our Mac systems and did all the Mac
and Windows setup work for us, including
the installs of Sophos clients and the
configuring of the Windows host. The
technician also set up a NAT bridge within
Fusion that allowed the control center to
administer the Sophos client on the Mac
partition. It should be noted that Sophos
24/7 phone support is among the best we
have ever seen. The tech staff is patient,
personable, and their level of expertise
is impressive.
All machines were set up and running in
no time and the control center
immediately set to work, updating itself
and its clients, and triggering remote
scans. Within minutes it diagnosed and
killed a very nasty little bit of malware on
the Mac Pro.
We had tried and compared a number
popular anti-malware applications out there
and not only were they unable to detect
this particular threat (an item that has been
described in various blogs and forums), but
their tech support people had never even
heard of the malware in question. In a real
world situation this one incident would
have been enough to pay for the one-year
five-seat license all by itself.
Conclusions
While Sophos may not be a familiar name
to most Mac users, it is a name that one
should keep in mind. The threats out there
are far greater than most people know and
it is no longer possible to rely on antivirus
apps alone. Of the solutions we tested,
only Sophos was able to detect, isolate and
kill the threat that we encountered. It is a
powerful, expansive, cross-platform
solution that covers all the bases, and is
backed by an excellent round-the-clock
telephone support system.
Product Sophos small business
solutions 4
Made by Sophos
Price $247 / 5-year,
5-seat license
Pros Comprehensive; amazing
tech support
Cons Somewhat daunting for
technophobes
Rating
★★★★★
SOPHOS SECURITY SUITE, SMALL BUSINESS EDITION
WORDS BY TREY YANCY
