F-Secure Manages Windows, Linux
The new F-Secure Antivirus Linux Client and Server Security products deliver three levels of antivirus scanning as well as tools that provide intrusion detection and prevention. In addition, the F-Secure products can control any Windows-based security products on a network through a centralized management console, said Travis Witteveen, vice president of the Americas for F-Secure, Helsinki, Finland.
"It's normal for a great deal of business networks to have mixed Windows and Linux security solutions running," Witteveen said. "But with this, you have IT staff managing the mixed devices locally, and often through a time-consuming command-line interface. So rather than develop a secondary management environment for Linux, we just integrated Windows into our product."
Witteveen said the new F-Secure technology makes managing the mixed operating systems from the Linux side just as easy as managing them from the Windows side. An F-Secure Policy Manager product can be added to automatically notify network administrators in the event of security incidents or virus activity.
Fred Fondriest, president of Network Security Architects, a security VAR in Los Gatos, Calif., said the new F-Secure products will simplify the day-to-day tasks of his customers who run mixed Windows and Linux security products.
"A lot of vendors have a single management console for their AV and other security products," Fondriest said. "But what typically happens is those vendors only have a single console for either the desktop products or the server products, or maybe just for Windows. F-Secure brings the management and reporting into one interface."
F-Secure Antivirus Linux Client and Server Security products also offer XML interfaces for controlling other management and reporting systems, Witteveen said. Pricing for the client product starts at $72 per seat for five to nine seats. Pricing for the server product starts at $297 per server for one to four servers.