How to choose antivirus software for enterprises

Now anti-virus software is no longer a dispensable product of enterprises, but to protect the enterprise network security Essential products. If a system is running a Windows system, then he must first install the latest version of the anti-virus program. And in the choice of anti-virus software is not a random choice on the can, do not underestimate the wisdom of hackers. In this article, I will introduce you to measure the antivirus software 10 elements, can help you better choose the appropriate anti-virus software products for their own enterprises.

1, virus identification ability

If an anti-virus software is unable to detect and isolate viruses, worms, or similar security threats, then this antivirus software is useless for enterprise security. If the enterprise's system is infected with virus, then antivirus work will make the enterprise's efficiency greatly reduced. If a system that installs anti-virus software is still infected with virus, it is a disgrace for the person who chooses this anti-virus software. Therefore, when choosing antivirus software, be sure to ensure that the selected anti-virus software can effectively detect and isolate the various threats.

Don't be fooled by the hype of advertisements or sales reps, and don't assume a brand as a priori. The best way is to communicate with other IT professionals and get the best word-of-mouth products from them. The recommendation from the professional is priceless, especially this professional is also like you to maintain a similar scale of enterprises, or he engaged in the network security industry for a long time, a variety of anti-virus software products have a considerable understanding.

2. Low system requirements

Some brands that are loud in the marketplace may cause Windows to temporarily stop responding or respond very slowly during the run. An efficient anti-virus software should be as far as possible without affecting the user front desk work, and then the background of the system monitoring. This principle is easy to understand, but many anti-virus software is not ideal in this respect, some will occupy a lot of system resources.

Before choosing antivirus software, be sure to look at the system requirements of the software. Before using this anti-virus software as an enterprise security solution, it should be tested on a small number of workstations to ensure its actual system resource occupancy in real-world environments. Instead of fully trusting the software vendor, you should be able to master firsthand information.

3. Centralized management

No IT manager is willing to install anti-virus software on every workstation in the enterprise. And if you choose an anti-virus software that is not centrally distributed and managed, you will have to install the software for all the terminals in your enterprise.

Make sure that the antivirus software you choose can be centrally deployed via Windows IntelliMirror or other client deployment technologies (or that antivirus software has its own centralized deployment tool). While some small companies don't care about the time savings of centralizing deployments, even a small company with only 20 people, centralized management and remote management should be required. In order to effectively antivirus software configuration, log viewing, upgrade maintenance, and so on, with a strong centralized management function is far more valuable than a little cost to pay.

4. e-mail protection capability

There is no doubt that it would be best if an antivirus software could detect viruses and malicious code that were sent or received in e-mail. But not all antivirus software offers this functionality at the moment. Even if the enterprise maintains its own e-mail server or uses a router-based anti-virus program. The client should also be equipped with a anti-virus software that provides antivirus capabilities for email, and double insurance.

The client's e-mail security system provides basic protection for the enterprise's messaging system. It can effectively prevent the enterprise customers or the company's mail system infected with the virus and the enterprise itself is infected with the virus, some can also provide basic spam cleaning function.

5, compatibility

To ensure that an anti-virus software is able to work stably in your existing system, check that the antivirus software will be in conflict with the enterprise-specific program or other prerequisite programs during installation and use. Some it newsgroups, as well as some anti-virus software vendors, will give the software conflicting information in a timely manner. A better way is to try antivirus software on a small scale and make sure it doesn't conflict with any of the necessary software.

If your business is using a Microsoft Vista system, be extra careful. Don't expect antivirus software developed on Windows XP to run smoothly in Vista. In fact, most anti-virus software can not achieve full functionality in Vista. If your business has migrated to Vista, then be sure to choose the antivirus software that has been granted Vista compatibility certification.

6. Effective reporting tools

Some anti-virus solutions allow administrators to view all client-side virus-scanning reports through the Web interface. Other anti-virus software can also be reported for a variety of scan results, but require the administrator to personally view the client computer.

By analyzing the size of your business and your needs, you can determine what kind of report to look for your business. It is important to attach importance to the reporting capabilities of anti-virus systems, because logs and reports can provide a wealth of useful information to help IT managers implement the necessary measures before or during a crisis.

7. Technical support capability

The anti-virus software always has the mistake time. This is unavoidable. Sooner or later you will find that there are some strange problems with the system, giving you some strange error messages or slow response to a system without obvious reasons. At this point, it is necessary to contact the developers of antivirus software vendors to further obtain relevant information.

So before purchasing antivirus software, check the manufacturer's Web site to see if the manufacturer offers free phone support, whether it has a user forum, and whether there are many other ways to support it.

8. Certificate

The performance of an anti-virus solution is critical, and the certificate it obtains is also important. Manufacturers always make a variety of commitments to their products and publicity, but with industry certification is the most powerful market development capital. ICSA Labs, Virus Bulletin, West Coast Labs, National associate of specialist Computer, and other evaluation agencies, will rigorously evaluate antivirus software.

Although the certificate does not represent everything, but when you select an anti-virus software, confirm that the software has the relevant certificate can make you more comfortable to choose this product.

9. License-related issues

Once you have verified that an anti-virus software has enough strength, compatibility, and good technical support, then consider the license for the software. Some manufacturers provide licenses only for a single computer, if the computer's hard drive is broken, or the motherboard is broken, according to the OEM terms, the enterprise should buy a new software, instead of using the original.

So be sure to pay attention to the license terms. In general, if the client license is selected, it should be calculated on a per head basis. In this case, if the system crashes and then re-enable the new system, you can easily use the original license. (The price may be slightly more expensive)

When using the head method to buy the license, we should take into account the development trend of the enterprise. Some companies may meet the licensing limit in six months. Also carefully record how many systems have antivirus software installed, and modify the records as the enterprise workstation and server updates are replaced.

10, a reasonable price

If the license is less than 50 people, the annual license fee per head is about 30-45 dollars. If the company buys a maximum license limit of 100 people, the cost per head may drop to 25 dollars.

Unless you choose anti-virus software that includes firewalls, anti-spyware, or anti-spam features, the license fee will not exceed the cost I mentioned above. If an enterprise (especially more than 20 people) plans to install a firewall or Anti-spyware program on a barrier, it is best to consider buying a hardware firewall (such as SonicWALL, Barracuda, or other vendor-supplied products) rather than a software product.