How Sweet Is Eset's New Security Suite?

By Frank Ohlhorst  |  Posted 2007-11-19 Email Print this article Print
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Channel Labs takes a look at ESET Smart Security v3.0, a well-rounded and reliable security product for both users and channel players.

Since 1992, San Diego-based Eset LLC has been one of the silent warriors behind the scenes in the war on viruses and malware. It has been mostly silent because the company lacks the name recognition that competitors such as Symantec/Norton, Panda and Trend Micro enjoy.

While the name Eset doesn't roll off the tongue when one thinks about viruses and malware, that has no effect on the company's ability to offer leading edge security solutions that are in many cases superior to the big names on the market. Eset's technologies are proven and are often integrated under OEM agreements into many security vendors' products, while the company's NOD32 antivirus product is starting to become a favorite in many circles.

Eset realized early on that innovation and protection are the key elements of success when it comes to anti-virus software. That theme persists with the Oct. 31 launch of Eset's latest product, ESS (Eset Smart Security), a desktop suite that offers anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and firewall features in a single, easy-to-deploy and manage package.

ESS is designed to protect consumer and SMB desktop computers from the all too common security threats found today. What's more, the product incorporates Eset's proprietary heuristic ThreatSense detection system, which readily handles those not-too-common and zero-day threats of the future.

Eset took a different approach to building a security suite, while many software companies build their suites by combining their existing tools, Eset designed ESS from the ground up as a single product. That innovation in development allowed the company to offer a fully integrated security suite that is both fast and comprehensive.

The first benefit is that data traffic does not have to pass through several independent malware detection engines, all malware scanning takes place using a single engine, making for impressive performance results. Also, updates consist of a single signature file, instead of multiple separate files that have to be integrated.

The product's performance was impressive: a complete system scan took only 2 minutes, 13 seconds to go through 37,002 identified objects making it one of the fastest suites evaluated to date. What's more, the product seemed to introduce almost no overhead on the test virtual machine. That system scored an average PassMark score of 370.2 after three tests before installation of Eset's product. After installation and configuration of the security suite, the average PassMark score dipped to 365.5, a negligible drop.

For comparison, Panda's Internet Security 2008 was put through the same paces. That product scored an average PassMark score of 365.7 and took 3 minutes and 15 seconds to perform a complete system scan.

For testing, ESS was installed on a Virtual PC created by Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 and hosted on a Lenovo T61p Thinkpad. That Virtual PC ran Windows XP SP2 and had 512MB of RAM dedicated to it. The installation of ESS is very straight forward, but installers will need to register the product to get a password update before commencing the installation. Eset should find a way to make registration and password generation part of the installation process, perhaps the first guided step, instead of a separate task.

During installation, users have the option of protecting the program settings and installation options with a configuration password that can prevent unauthorized tampering with the product. That option should be used with care because administrators can inadvertently lock themselves out of future changes if the password is lost.

How Sweet Is Eset's New Security Suite?

Perhaps a better way to protect the program would be to require a Windows Administrator account (available in both XP and Vista) to effect any changes down the road that would enable remote administrators to control the product while keeping typical users out.

 
 
 
 
Frank Ohlhorst Frank J. Ohlhorst is the Executive Technology Editor for eWeek Channel Insider and brings with him over 20 years of experience in the Information Technology field.He began his career as a network administrator and applications program in the private sector for two years before joining a computer consulting firm as a programmer analyst. In 1988 Frank founded a computer consulting company, which specialized in network design, implementation, and support, along with custom accounting applications developed in a variety of programming languages.In 1991, Frank took a position with the United States Department of Energy as a Network Manager for multiple DOE Area Offices with locations at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPL), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), FermiLAB and the Ames Area Office (AMESAO). Frank's duties included managing the site networks, associated staff and the inter-network links between the area offices. He also served at the Computer Security Officer (CSO) for multiple DOE sites. Frank joined CMP Technology's Channel group in 1999 as a Technical Editor assigned to the CRN Test Center, within a year, Frank became the Senior Technical Editor, and was responsible for designing product testing methodologies, assigning product reviews, roundups and bakeoffs to the CRN Test Center staff.In 2003, Frank was named Technology Editor of CRN. In that capacity, he ensured that CRN maintained a clearer focus on technology and increased the integration of the Test Center's review content into both CRN's print and web properties. He also contributed to Netseminar's, hosted sessions at CMP's Xchange Channel trade shows and helped to develop new methods of content delivery, Such as CRN-TV.In September of 2004, Frank became the Director of the CRN Test Center and was charged with increasing the Test Center's contributions to CMP's Channel Web online presence and CMP's latest monthly publication, Digital Connect, a magazine geared towards the home integrator. He also continued to contribute to CMP's Netseminar series, Xchange events, industry conferences and CRN-TV.In January of 2007, CMP Launched CRNtech, a monthly publication focused on technology for the channel, with a mailed audience of 70,000 qualified readers. Frank was instrumental in the development and design of CRNTech and was the editorial director of the publication as well as its primary contributor. He also maintained the edit calendar, and hosted quarterly CRNTech Live events.In June 2007, Frank was named Senior Technology Analyst and became responsible for the technical focus and edit calendars of all the Channel Group's publications, including CRN, CRNTech, and VARBusiness, along with the Channel Group's specialized publications Solutions Inc., Government VAR, TechBuilder and various custom publications. Frank joined Ziff Davis Enterprise in September of 2007 and focuses on creating editorial content geared towards the purveyors of Information Technology products and services. Frank writes comparative reviews, channel analysis pieces and participates in many of Ziff Davis Enterprise's tradeshows and webinars. He has received several awards for his writing and editing, including back to back best review of the year awards, and a president's award for CRN-TV. Frank speaks at many industry conferences, is a contributor to several IT Books, holds several records for online hits and has several industry certifications, including Novell's CNE, Microsoft's MCP.Frank can be reached at frank.ohlhorst@ziffdavisenterprise.com
 
 
 
 
 
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