New & Improved - 22 Dec 2008

Product Spotlight: Spam Blocking with a Human Element
Spam is big business, and spammers are highly motivated to continually develop new spamming techniques. Meanwhile, vendors constantly work on new strategies to combat these attacks. Sendio’s newest strategy is the Email Security Platform (ESP) appliance.

As a first line of defense, ESP uses a proprietary technology known as SilverListing to verify that a sending mail server is legitimate. “It’s a very basic test to see if that server is willing to do a retry—we pretend that the mail server on our side is temporarily unavailable. This protects ninety to ninety-five percent of the bandwidth that is currently being wasted due to spam,” said Tal Golan, president, CTO, and founder of Sendio.

Unlike content filters, ESP includes a human element by using sender address verification to authenticate email. First-time senders to a protected email address get an automated return message asking the sender to verify that he or she is a legitimate sender—something a spam bot can’t do. After a user sends or receives an initial email message, he or she is authenticated from that point forward. For messages that are sent through distribution lists, such as email newsletters, users can specify senders whose messages are automatically allowed to go through.

In addition to offering Sender Policy Framework and Domain Keys Identified Mail out of the box, ESP scans outbound messages, preventing spread of viruses. The ESP 360 appliance, designed for small-to-midsized businesses, is $1,995. The ESP 430, designed for large enterprises, is $7,995. The subscription license starts at $2.25 per month per user, with volume discounts available. For more information, contact Sendio at 949-274-4375 or visit www.sendio.com.

McAfee-Compatible Log and Event Management
LogRhythm’s self-titled LogRhythm product has achieved McAfee Compatible status under McAfee’s Security Innovation Alliance (SIA) program. McAfee tested Log- Rhythm and validated the software’s ability to forward alert information to McAfee’s security and compliance management system, ePolicy Orchestrator. The integrated solution enables real-time monitoring and notification, threat detection, and incident response. For more information, contact LogRhythm at 303-413-8745 or visit www.logrhythm.com.

See Associated Figure

Manage Desktops Without a VPN
AdventNet announced Desktop Central 6.0, the latest release of its desktop management solution. The new version lets admins manage desktops of roaming users and users in branch offices across a WAN from a central location by using HTTPS instead of a VPN connection. Desktop Central assists with software deployment, patch and asset management, and service pack installation and provides user logon and Active Directory (AD) reports. It can be used to manage desktops in AD, workgroups, and directory services–based networks such as Novell’s eDirectory. Desktop Central Professional starts at $995 for 100 systems and is available for a free 30-day evaluation; a free edition is available for small businesses. To learn more, go to manageengine.adventnet.com.

Prevent Internal Data Theft
A huge threat to an organization’s data security comes from within, from users who can download, upload, and print information from corporate computers at will. DeviceLock’s flagship product, DeviceLock, ensures that security policies are enforced by controlling user access to removable devices, ports, and printers. The latest version, DeviceLock 6.4, enhances the product’s features by offering file-type detection and filtering, as well as context-based policies for DeviceLock agents. For more information, contact DeviceLock at 925- 231-4400 or go to www.devicelock.com.

See Associated Figure

Email Archiving for Compliance
H&S Software’s exchange@PAM email archiving and life cycle management solution has been enhanced to meet the ongoing demands of email archiving regulations. exchange@PAM 3.5 lets you establish legal holds to ensure that specified documents are locked and accessible only for legal and auditing purposes. Additionally, the product’s Direct Archive technology has been redesigned and extended to use asynchronous event sinks to improve Exchange performance while Direct Archive jobs run. To find out more or request a free trial version, visit www.hs-soft.com.

Control Computers and Networks Remotely
StarTech.com announced the availability of its Conyx 16 Port Enhanced Serial Console Server, which lets systems administrators and network managers monitor and control their computers and networks from anywhere in the world over a TCP/IP connection. The console server provides consolidated access and control of all connected serial consoles on devices such as UNIX, Linux, and Sun Solaris servers, as well as routers, switches, PBXs, telecommunications equipment, and power-distribution units. The unit also provides a DHCP client for dynamic IP assignment, offline data logging, out-of-band access, and encryption. The Conyx 16 Port Enhanced Serial Console Server costs $1,195. Contact StarTech.com at 800-265-1844 or visit www.startech.comfor more information.

See Associated Figure

Collaborate and Oversee Project Management
Bamboo Solutions has released Bamboo Project Management Suite, a collection of the company’s Web Parts, designed for project managers looking to create a highly productive, web-based project management environment in SharePoint. The suite can be deployed on either a single server or as a system across multiple departments within an enterprise. The Project Management Suite also offers a Premium Annual Support subscription that gives customers new Web Parts that are added to the suite over the life of the subscription. For more information, contact Bamboo Solutions at 877-226-2662 or visit www.bamboosolutions.com.

Automatic Power-Management Policies
To help companies save energy and money, Triumfant announced the Green IT Power Management Option Pack for its Triumfant Resolution Manager computer-state monitoring and control product. With the option pack, Triumfant Resolution Manager can detect when a PC is out of compliance with the company’s power-management policies and adjust the PC accordingly. Companies can use the option pack’s features to configure PCs to use little or no power during set times (e.g., nonbusiness hours); Wake-on- LAN technology automatically returns PCs to a ready state when IT maintenance tasks are scheduled. To learn more, contact Triumfant at 301-917-6280 or go towww.triumfant.com/GreenIT.asp.

See Associated Figure