PCSAFE.RVW 921116 Comparison Review Company and product: Micronyx Inc 1901 N. Central Expressway, Suite 400 Richardson, TX USA 75080 800-634-8786 214-690-0595 214-644-1344 tech support fax: 214-690-1733 7 Canon Harnett Court Warren Farm Office Village Stratford Road, Wolverton Mill Milton Keynes, England MK12 5NF 0908-221247 Fax: 0908-223416 SAFE (Secure Access Facility for the Enterprise) 3.5 Summary: Encryption and operation restriction system, primarily directed at restriction of access rather than protection Cost: $295.00 Rating (1-4, 1 = poor, 4 = very good) "Friendliness" Installation 2 Ease of use 1 Help systems 1 Compatibility 2 Company Stability 2 Support 2 Documentation 1 Hardware required 1 Performance 2 Availability 1 Local Support 1 General Description: SAFE is a security system primarily directed towards restriction of access. This does provide some protection against modification of program files, but the system is not an "antiviral" package per se. It is reviewed here in the interest of completeness. Because of this, numerous "failings" are reported here that have no bearing on the suitability of the package in its intended role. Comparison of features and specifications User Friendliness Installation The product is shipped on unprotected 3.5" (720K) disks. Reference is made in the installation manual to a "token reader", but this was not included with the evaluation unit. "Automated" installation is the only option. Installation instructions are given in both the "Installation Guide" and the "Quick Installation" pamphlet. One of these *must* be read. Failure to read the instructions may result in an improperly installed system, and one which may impair system operation. This is odd, given that the installation process is so highly automated. For example, the computer is rebooted twice during the installation process. The first time is handled completely by the installation program. The computer is rebooted, and continues with the installation. This requires no operator intervention. The second time, however, the user is instructed, very tersely, that the system is *not* installed, and to follow the "next" step in the installation process. Study of the installation guides reveals this to be the running of the security setup, which installs user accounts. Given that the system comes with default accounts, and that the "Quick Installation" suggests that you use them, the system should be able to proceed to that point and prompt the user for a choice. If the user does not take this further step, the system is, in fact, partially installed, contrary to what the user has been told. In addition, at this point the program will not remove itself through the "Remove" option on the menu. It gives the terse, and as it turns out erroneous, message that the path to the SAFE directory is incorrect. There is a RECOVERY batch file which can be used at this point. A further reboot and run of the CLEANUP batch file are needed in order to fully restore the system to normal operation. Ease of use In common with most security systems, SAFE requires a lot of thought. The program interface is not hard to figure out, but the setup of access rules is not going to be an easy task. Help systems None provided. Compatibility SAFE requires removal of all other antiviral security before installation. All TSRs must also be removed, and added to the system after installation. An exception to this appears to be mouse driver software. SAFE requires that disk maintenance and repair utilities not be used once the system is installed. There may also be conflicts with memory managers and programs requiring certain keystrokes. Company Stability Unknown. Company Support Unknown. Documentation The documentation is extremely daunting, even for those familiar with installation and administration manuals on mid-range computers. I was, for a time, unsure as to whether I did, in fact, have an MS-DOS version of the product for evaluation. A "Quick Installation" pamphlet is provided which does guide the user through the steps for installation. In fact, the main documentation recommends that "software evaluators" use the quick installation without reference to the other documentation. While it is true that this will perform a successful installation, it by no means provides sufficient information for an informed review of the product. As well as the "Quick Installation" and some other reference cards, there are three manuals in the documentation. The "Installation Guide" lists the installation requirements, the steps necessary to install the program, and some options for customization. The "User Guide" describes installation and use of SAFE on a standalone machine or network, while the "Administrator Guide" deals with security at a "corporate" level. It is unlikely that even the advanced user will fully appreciate the ramifications of the "Installation Guide" unless the other manuals are read as well. Although the directions for installation are explicit and clear, there is almost no description of what the installation of SAFE does to the computer system. The "User Guide" contains a section with a general discussion of data security "concepts". This leads into a short section on SAFE "concepts", but still gives little information regarding the operation of the program itself. There is extensive discussion of access "rules", and the interface of the program itself. The "Administrator Guide", interestingly, is almost a carbon copy of the "User Guide" except for the added sections dealing with the Global User Setup and Audit programs. No further details are available regarding what it is that SAFE actually does, and how. Assessment of the actual strengths of the system can therefore only be determined by experimentation. It is obvious that Micronyx believes firmly in security by obscurity. Hardware Requirements An MS-DOS computer with version 3.3 or higher, 640K memory, a floppy disk drive, and a hard disk with 6 megabytes of free space. (Once installation is complete, approximately 2.4 MB of files may be removed.) Note that if only 640K memory is available, SAFE occupies 62K. Performance The operation restricting aspects of the system should be able to prevent infection by most file infecting viral programs. However, the fact that protection is file based does not seem to help with protection against boot sector infectors. (The hardware requirements of the system prevented full testing of this, but the initial results indicated that infection of the hard disk was not prevented.) Additionally, the system does not appear to protect against FAT (or "system") viral programs, nor against "companion" viri. Local Support None available. Support Requirements SAFE is a security system, and the "virus protection" component is really incidental to that. Setup of the security system will require assistance by those experienced in security matters. This is not a system to be handed to the novice, or even intermediate, user. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1992 PCSAFE 921116 ====================== roberts@decus.ca rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@freenet.victoria.bc.ca "We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct. My own feeling is that it is not crazy enough." -- Niels Bohr Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94663-2 (800-SPRINGER)