PCNSO.RVW 931109
Comparison Review
Company and product:
Leprechaun Software Pty Ltd
PO Box 134
Lutwyche Queensland 4003
Australia
Lindsay Hough +61 7 2524037
Leprechaun International
2284 Pine Warbler Way
Marietta Georgia 30062 USA
404 971 8900
fax 404 971 8988
800-521-8849
Roger Thompson home 404-509-7314
Wanikas Software Inc.
Suite 4, 60 St. Claire Ave. W.
Toronto, Ont.
M4V 1M7
(416) 920-5006
Fax: (416) 920-0778
Network Security Organizer 1.0
Summary: NetWare security assessment and antiviral manager
Cost
Rating (1-4, 1 = poor, 4 = very good)
"Friendliness"
Installation 3
Ease of use 3
Help systems 2
Compatibility 2
Company
Stability 3
Support 2
Documentation 2
Hardware required 3
Performance 2
Availability 2
Local Support 1
General Description:
Reports on various aspects of NetWare security and vulnerabilites, manages
updating of antiviral software as well as messaging and logging.
Comparison of features and specifications
User Friendliness
Installation
Installation is automated insofar as the copying of files is concerned. Access
rights must be granted manually. Some features, such as a number of functions
of the security check, are immediately available. Others appear to require
activation the next time the individual users, on various workstations, log on
to the network. There is no provision for manual installation, nor are the
specialized operations described in much detail.
Ease of use
Once fully installed, the operation and use of NSO itself is quite simple. The
interface is CUA compliant and, like the Virus Buster interface, well designed
and clearly laid out.
Help systems
Help is available at all times in the NSO program. Assistance in installation
of the program is very limited.
Compatibility
Operates only with the Novell NetWare operating system. The system is stated
to preform updates with a number of antiviral packages.
Company Stability
Doing well.
Company Support
The normal routes.
Documentation
The manual is very small, and obviously intended to portray the program as
simple to install and use. Unfortunately, it goes a bit overboard in this
direction. While the security implications of the reports NSO gives you are
perhaps best left to a specialized work on network security, the lack of
background in the manual may leave some users or administrators with a false
sense of security. On the other hand, the warnings NSO gives are quite
detailed and specific, so perhaps additional material is unnecessary.
However, there are some definite gaps in the information about the program,
itself. Information about certain aspects of the installation is very scanty.
Some material is obviously missing: the program is said to be able to check
for, and update, a wide range of antiviral programs. Of those listed, MSAV,
F-Prot, FindVirus and Sweep have no entries in the set of command line switches
needed to do this.
Included is a much reduced version of the Virus Buster manual. This covers the
basic of installation and operation without the additional background of the
full manual. For system administrators wanting a quick reference it would be a
handy guide.
System Requirements
NetWare.
Performance
NSO's ability to manage and report on vulnerabilities for a specific network is
long overdue. Some of the functions, such as the ability to check status on
different machines, or update virus software, can be obtained through the use
of utilities and script files if the administrator wishes to take the time to
do it. Others, such as the virus risk analysis, would be very tedious and time
consuming, as well as difficult to automate. For those without a specific
background in security, this is a fairly effective "one stop" source for virus
and security analysis and control on the network.
Local Support
None provided.
Support Requirements
Minimal.
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 PCNSO.RVW 931109
============== ______________________
Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca | | /\ | | swiped
Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca | | __ | | __ | | from
Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca | | \ \ / / | | Mike
User p1@CyberStore.ca | | /________\ | | Church
Security Canada V7K 2G6 |____|_____][_____|____| @sfu.ca