Product Reviews

Computer Associates (CA) eTrust Anti-Virus is designed to scale from the workgroup to the enterprise and as such offers high levels of management features. It comprises three main components: an administration server, along with the local on-demand and real-time scanners. Installation to other NT/2000 systems can be automated with a remote installer that uses an ICF (installation command file) to deploy the same group of settings to multiple systems. This task isn't so simple for clients running Windows 95, 98 or ME as eTrust can only be deployed using a login script associated with the setup files in a shared directory.

The entire eTrust environment can be managed from the server running the administration components. A network view based on IP subnets will discover and display all systems that have the eTrust software installed. Systems are managed by placing them into containers that can be used to represent logical or physical views of the network, and branches can be added to represent departments or groups of users. To add a system to a container it must first be authenticated, which is problematic for Windows 95, 98 and

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ME systems as user accounts are managed locally. To get around this, a small DOS utility is used to create a special authentication file that contains a list of eTrust usernames and passwords. This can be copied either to each managed system or deployed across the network by placing it in the shared installation directory on the server.

Policies are assigned to each container or branch to control how systems run the anti-virus software and react to an attempted infection. Furthermore, once these policies have been assigned they can be locked down to prevent users from removing the anti-virus software or modifying the settings. Policies can be used to schedule regular on-demand scans, determine what's to be done with infected files and to distribute new virus signature files that have been automatically downloaded from CA's Web site.

The user will find a new icon in the System Tray indicating the real-time scanner is active. They can view and modify its configuration but, if central settings have been applied and locked down, they'll find the OK button has been greyed out. A local copy of eTrust InnoculateIT is also installed, allowing users to run their own on-demand scans.

The Alert Manager service allows warnings to be sent to a pager, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, SNMP trap, NT Event Log and CA's Unicentre TNG. Different alert configurations can also be used for the on-demand and real-time scanners and these can be customised for and applied to different containers of users and locked down to prevent them being modified. eTrust is a sophisticated anti-virus product. However, it's not as easy to install and use as Sophos' Anti-Virus, making the latter a better choice for smaller networks.