Trend Micro this Monday will introduce an updated version of its VirusWall appliance (which detects worm outbreaks and cuts off network access to infected machines) with an added capability that will make sure the machine has the right anti-virus or patch updates to begin with before allowing access. Some VirusWall customers, though, aren't sure that the new network-access control capability will be a good fit in their organizations.
Trend's VirusWall Enforcer, expected to ship in June, gains its newfound ability to check virus and patch status on desktop machines through technology Trend licensed from OPSWAT, a company Network World recently profiled.
The current VirusWall has been of huge benefit to Office Suites Plus, a company that provides furnished office space and Internet service to businesses in 22 locations in the Southeast. But the company is uncertain whether it wants to make use of the updated version of the appliance.
"VirusWall has been a tremendous help for us," says Scott Beauchamp, vice president of information technology at Office Suites Plus, which deployed 22 VirusWall appliances about a year ago, one for each of its locations where business people bring in their laptops to work.
The problem with worm outbreaks had been been continuous, with worm-infected laptops saturating the network with unwanted scanning. "It rendered our circuits unusable."
Beauchamp says Office Suites Plus advises clientele their machines will be quarantined by VirusWall if they display signs of infections, and the Trend appliance has helped bring the worm outbreak crisis under control. "At one point we were spending hours each day on this," says Beauchamp. He adds: "We'd tell our clients there were nfections but they wouldn't believe it. People are in denial about this."
Nonetheless, Beauchamp questions whether Office Suites Plus would use the updated VirusWall Enforcer coming out in June because the firm doesn't currently make demands on clientele regarding updated anti-virus or software patches.
"Policy enforcement could be valuable," says Beauchamp. "But it's a question of administrative rights." Office Suites Plus would have to review the legal and business aspects of making demands on users for policy-based network-access control before any decision to roll out VirusWall Enforcer.
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