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Business Security Test 2019 (August – November)

Date November 2019
Language English
Last Revision December 15th 2019

Containing Real-World Protection, Malware Protection, Performance and Enhanced Real-World Tests & Product Reviews


Release date 2019-12-16
Revision date 2019-12-15
Test Period August - November 2019
Number of Testcases 844 Real-World
1,278 Malware Protection
Online with cloud connectivity checkbox-checked
Update allowed checkbox-checked
False Alarm Test included checkbox-checked
Platform/OS Microsoft Windows

Introduction

This is the second half-year report of our Business Main-Test Series of 2019, containing the results of the Business Real-World Protection Test (August-November), Business Malware Protection Test (September), Business Performance Test (October), as well as the Product Reviews.

AV security software is available for all sizes and types of business. What fits well at the smaller end of the SME (small to medium enterprise) market is probably not going to be quite so appropriate to the larger corporates.

Before deciding on appropriate software to investigate, it is critical to understand the business environment in which it will be used, so that correct and informed choices can be made.

Let’s start at the smaller end of the marketplace. These are environments that have often grown out of micro businesses, where domestic-grade AV products might well have been appropriate. But as soon as you start to scale beyond a few machines, the role of AV management comes into sharp focus. This is especially true when you consider the business and reputational damage that could result from a significant, and uncontained/uncontrolled malware outbreak.

However, in the smaller end of the SME space, there is rarely an onsite IT manager or operative. Often the role of “looking after the computers” falls to an interested amateur, whose main role in the business is that of senior partner. This model is often found in retail, accountancy and legal professions. In this space, it is critical to have a managed overview of all the computing assets, and to have instant clarity about the status of the protection delivered in way that is clear and simple. Remediation can be done by taking a machine offline, moving the user to a spare device, and waiting for an IT professional to arrive on site to perform clean-up and integrity checking tasks. Although users might be informed of status, managing the platform is a task for one, or at most, a few, senior people within the organization, often driven by overriding needs for data confidentiality within the company.

In the larger organization, it is expected to have onsite specialist IT staff, and, at the bigger end, staff whose role is explicitly that of network security. Here, the CTO role will be looking for straightforward, but real-time statistics and a management overview which allows for drilling into the data to focus on problems when they arise. There will almost be an explicit role for the software installation engineers, responsible for ensuring the AV package is correctly and appropriately loaded and deployed onto new machines. Knowing when machines “drop off grid” is almost as important here, to ensure that there are no rogue, unprotected devices on the LAN. Finally, there will almost certainly be a help desk role, as a first-line defence, who will be responsible for monitoring and tracking malware activity, and escalating it appropriately. They might, for example, initiate a wipe-and-restart on a compromised computer.

Finally, in this larger, more layered hierarchy, there is a task of remediation and tracking. Knowing that you have a malware infection is just the start. Handling it, and being able to trace its infection route back to the original point of infection, is arguably the most important function in a larger organization. If a weakness in the network security and operational procedure design cannot be clearly identified, then it is likely that such a breach will occur again at some point in the future. For this role, comprehensive analysis and forensic tools are required, with a heavy emphasis on understanding the timeline of an attack or infection from a compromised computer. Providing this information in a coherent way is not easy – it requires the handling of huge amounts of data, and the tools to filter, categorize and highlight issues as they are unfolding, often in real time.

Because of these fundamental differences, it is critically important to identify the appropriate tool for the organization, and the risk profile it is exposed to. Under-specifying this will result in breaches that will be hard to manage. Over-specifying will result in a system of such complexity that no-one truly understands how to deploy, use and maintain it, and the business is then open to attack simply because of the fog of misunderstanding and lack of compliance.

You need to make choices between going for a local-network, server-installed package, or looking at a wholly cloud-based solution. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and much will depend upon your existing infrastructure and working practices. There is no reason why one approach is inherently better than another.

At the larger end of the market, CrowdStrike, Endgame and FireEye all offer exceptionally powerful tools. How well they will fit to your organization, both how it is today and how you intend to grow it over the next five years, needs to be carefully planned. There is clearly a role here for external expertise and consultancy, both in the planning and deployment stages, and all of them will require significant amounts of training and ongoing support. However, they offer a level of capability that is entirely different to the smaller packages. Endgame offers equivalent high-end, large corporate capabilities.

McAfee provide a console with huge functionality that can be used to manage many other products in addition to endpoint protection. This means that some training and orientation will be needed to get the best out of it, but the time invested will be rewarded. Consequently, it is best used in organisations with the appropriate IT resources to take full advantage of it.

Microsoft’s Intune spans the range from the SME market to the largest global corporation, as you would expect, since Microsoft deploys it internally. It has a clean, easy-to-understand user interface, and integrates extremely well with Active Directory and the whole suite of AD policy driven solutions. For many customers who are focused on the Microsoft corporate platform, there are significant advantages to this solution as part of an overall fully managed deployment.

Cisco offers a product with a wealth of functionality. Finding the essentials is made easy in the well-designed console, although getting the most out of the product would take some learning.

SparkCognition presents sophisticated features in a straightforward, easy-to-navigate console.

Kaspersky and Sophos offer strong, easy-to-manage products that are equally at home in SMEs and larger organisations.

For the smaller end of the business, Avast, Bitdefender, ESET, Fortinet, K7, Panda and Seqrite all offer strong and coherent solutions. These would all work well with larger companies too, and so allow the business to grow.

VIPRE’s simplicity and clarity make it a very good choice for smaller businesses with limited IT staff resources, although it allows plenty of room to grow.

Tested Products

The following business products were tested under Microsoft Windows 10 1903 64-bit:

In business environments, and with business products in general, it is usual for products to be configured by the system administrator, in accordance with vendor’s guidelines, and so we invited all vendors to configure their respective products. About half of the vendors provide their products with optimal default settings which are ready to use, and therefore did not change any settings. Cloud and PUA detection were activated in all products. We currently do not include any PUA in our malware tests.

Below we have listed relevant deviations from default settings (i.e. setting changes applied by the vendors):

Bitdefender: “HyperDetect”, “Device Sensor” and “EDR Sensor” disabled.

Cisco: everything enabled.

CrowdStrike: everything enabled and set to maximum, i.e. “Extra Aggressive”.

Endgame: Enabled Software and Hardware protection options: all enabled; Protected Applications: “Browser”, “Microsoft Suite” (incl. Fltdr.exe and EQNEDT32.exe), “Java” and “Adobe”. Malware (on-execution and on-write): “On – Prevent mode”; Process Injection: “On – Prevent mode”; Options: all enabled; “Aggressive” threshold. Adversary behaviors: all enabled; Credential dumping: enabled; Ransomware: disabled. Note that settings were renamed/reordered in the newer version.

FireEye: “Real-Time Indicator Detection” disabled, “Exploit Guard” and “Malware Protection” enabled.

Fortinet: Real-Time protection, FortiSandbox, Webfilter and Application Firewall (in order to use Detect & Block Exploits) enabled.

McAfee: “Email attachment scanning” enabled; “Real Protect” enabled and set to “high” sensitivity, “read/write scan of Shadow Copy Volumes” disabled, “Access Protection” and “Exploit Prevention” disabled.

Microsoft: Cloud protection level set to “High”.

Sophos: “Web Control” and “Protect against data loss” disabled.

SparkCognition: all “Policy Settings” and all “Attack Vectors” settings enabled.

Trend Micro: Behaviour monitoring: “Monitor new encountered programs downloaded through web” enabled; “Certified Safe Software Service for Behaviour monitoring” enabled; “Smart Protection Service Proxy” enabled; “Use HTTPS for scan queries” enabled; Web Reputation Security Level set to Medium; “Send queries to Smart Protection Servers” disabled; “Block pages containing malicious script” enabled; Real-Time Scan set to scan “All scannable files”, “Scan compressed files to Maximum layers 6”; “CVE exploit scanning for downloaded files” enabled; “ActiveAction for probable virus/malware” set to Quarantine; Cleanup type set to “Advanced cleanup” and “Run cleanup when probable virus/malware is detected” enabled; “Block processes commonly associated with ransomware” enabled; “Anti-Exploit Protection” enabled; all “Suspicious Connection Settings” enabled and set to Block.

Avast, ESET, K7, Kaspersky, Panda, Seqrite, Symantec, VIPRE: default settings.

Information about additional third-party engines/signatures used by some of the products: Cisco, FireEye, Seqrite and VIPRE use the Bitdefender engine (in addition to their own protection features).

We congratulate the vendors who are participating in the Business Main-Test Series for having their business products publicly tested by an independent lab, showing their commitment to improving their products, being transparent to their customers and having confidence in their product quality.

Test Procedure

The test series consists of three main parts:

The Real-World Protection Test mimics online malware attacks that a typical business user might encounter when surfing the Internet.

The Malware Protection Test considers a scenario in which the malware pre-exists on the disk or enters the test system via e.g. the local area network or removable device, rather than directly from the Internet.

In addition to each of the protection tests, a false-positives test is conducted, to check whether any products falsely identify legitimate software as harmful.

The Performance Test looks at the impact each product has on the system’s performance, i.e. how much it slows down normal use of the PC while performing certain tasks.

This second half-year report of 2019 also includes the results of the new Enhanced Real-World Test (protection against advanced persistent threats), which evaluates the products as regards their ability to block sophisticated attacks such as file-less threats and exploits. Enterprises in particular are frequently targeted by such attacks. This kind of audit has often been requested by analysts and CISOs. Consequently, it will be a valuable indicator of whether business security products live up to their claims.

In 2020, the Enhanced Real-World Test will be a separate test (not part of the Main Test Series), with its own report.

To complete the picture of each product’s capabilities, there is a user-interface review included in the report as well.

Some of the products in the test are clearly aimed at larger enterprises and organisations, while others are more applicable to smaller businesses. Please see each product’s review section for further details.

Kindly note that some of the included vendors provide more than one business product. In such cases, other products in the range may have a different type of management console (server-based as opposed to cloud-based, or vice-versa); they may also include additional features not included in the tested product, such as endpoint detection and response (EDR). Readers should not assume that the test results for one product in a vendor’s business range will necessarily be the same for another product from the same vendor.

Test Results

Real-World Protection Test (August-November)

The results below are based on a test set consisting of 844 test cases (such as malicious URLs), tested from the beginning of August 2019 till the end of November 2019.

  Blocked User dependent Compromised PROTECTION RATE
[Blocked % + (User dependent %)/2]*
False Alarms
Panda
844 100% 15
Bitdefender 844 100% 25
Microsoft 837 7 99.6% 45
Kaspersky, Sophos
840 4 99.5% 0
ESET 840 4 99.5% 1
VIPRE 840 4 99.5% 4
K7 836 8 99.1% 3
Seqrite 828 14 2 98.9% 16
Avast 832 12 98.6% 1
Fortinet 832 12 98.6% 4
McAfee 832 12 98.6%
5
SparkCognition 828 16 98.1%
1
Endgame 821 23 97.3%
26
Cisco 820 24 97.2%
1
CrowdStrike 814 30 96.4% 6
FireEye 772 72 91.5% 0

Malware Protection Test (September)

The following chart shows the results of the Business Malware Protection Test:

False positive (false alarm) test with common business software

A false alarm test done with common business software was also performed. As expected, all the tested products had zero false alarms on common business software.

  Malware Protection Rate False Alarms on common business software
Avast. SparkCognition, Trend Micro 100% 0
Microsoft, Panda, Seqrite 99.9% 0
Bitdefender, Endgame, K7, McAfee, Sophos 99.8% 0
Symantec, VIPRE 99.7% 0
Cisco 99.5% 0
Fortinet, Kaspersky 99.4% 0
ESET 99.3% 0
FireEye* 96.2% 0
Crowdstrike 96.0% 0

*A FireEye product issue was uncovered during the Malware Protection Test which led to some missed detections. The bug has now been fixed.

In order to better evaluate the products’ detection accuracy and file detection capabilities (ability to distinguish good files from malicious files), we also performed a false alarm test on non-business software and uncommon files. This is provided mainly just as additional information, especially for organisations which often use uncommon non-business software or their own self-developed software. The results do not affect the overall test score or the Approved Business Product award. The false alarms found were promptly fixed by the respective vendors.

FP rate
Number of FPs on
non-business software
Very low
0 - 5
Low
6 - 15
Medium/Average
16 - 25
High
26 - 50
Very high
51 - 100
Remarkably high
> 100
  FP rate on non-business software
Avast, Bitdefender, Cisco, ESET, Fortinet, K7, Kaspersky, Seqrite, Symantec Very low
CrowdStrike, FireEye, McAfee, Microsoft, Panda, Sophos Low
Endgame, Trend Micro, VIPRE Medium
SparkCognition High
Very high
Remarkably high

Performance Test (October)

These specific test results show the impact on system performance that a security product has, compared to the other tested security products. The reported data just gives an indication and is not necessarily applicable in all circumstances, as too many factors can play an additional part. The testers defined the categories Slow, Mediocre, Fast and Very Fast by consulting statistical methods and taking into consideration what would be noticed from the user’s perspective, or compared to the impact of the other security products. If some products are faster/slower than others in a single subtest, this is reflected in the results.

Overview of single AV-C performance scores

Vendor File copying Archiving /
Unarchiving
Installing /
Uninstalling
Applications
Launching Applications Downloading Files Browsing Webites
First Run Subsequent Run First Run Subsequent Run
Avast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
Bitdefender perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast
Cisco perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-mediocre perf-level-mediocre perf-level-mediocre perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
CrowdStrike perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
Endgame perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-fast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
ESET perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
FireEye perf-level-mediocre perf-level-mediocre perf-level-mediocre perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
Fortinet* perf-level-mediocre perf-level-veryfast perf-level-mediocre perf-level-veryfast perf-level-fast perf-level-fast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast
K7 perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
Kaspersky perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
McAfee perf-level-fast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
Microsoft perf-level-fast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
Panda perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
Seqrite perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast
Sophos perf-level-fast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-mediocre perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
SparkCognition perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-fast perf-level-fast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast
VIPRE perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-veryfast perf-level-fast perf-level-veryfast

*Fortinet have told us that bugs in the tested version led to an increased system impact. The ability to change some newly introduced settings in version 6.2.0 (which have increased performance impact) will be added in the next build (6.2.2), as well as the bug fixes.

Key Slow perf-level-mediocre Mediocre perf-level-fast Fast perf-level-veryfast Very fast

PC Mark Tests

In order to provide an industry-recognized performance test, we used the PC Mark 10 Professional Edition testing suite. Users using PC Mark 10 benchmark should take care to minimize all external factors that could affect the testing suite, and strictly follow at least the suggestions documented inside the PC Mark manual, to get consistent and valid/useful results. Furthermore, the tests should be repeated several times to verify them. For more information about the various consumer scenarios tests included in PC Mark, please read the whitepaper on their website.

“No security software” is tested on a baseline system without any security software installed, which scores 100 points in the PC Mark 10 benchmark.

Baseline system: Intel Core i7-8550U machine with 8GB RAM and SSD drive

Summarized results

Users should weight the various subtests according to their needs. We applied a scoring system to sum up the various results. Please note that for the File Copying and Launching Applications subtests, we noted separately the results for the first run and for subsequent runs. For the AV-C score, we took the rounded mean values of first and subsequent runs for File Copying, whilst for Launching Applications we considered only the subsequent runs. “Very fast” gets 15 points, “fast” gets 10 points, “mediocre” gets 5 points and “slow” gets 0 points. This leads to the following results:

AVC ScorePC Mark ScoreImpact Score
1.ESET9099.30.7
2.Avast9097.92.1
3.K78899.32.7
4.Kaspersky8898.13.9
5.Endgame8599.06.0
6.McAfee8598.56.5
7.Panda8597.87.2
8.CrowdStrike8597.57.5
9.Bitdefender8398.98.1
10.Seqrite8398.68.4
11.VIPRE8098.811.2
12.Microsoft8098.612.4
13.SparkCognition8097.013.0
14.Sophos7098.421.6
15.FireEye7098.321.7
16.CISCO7097.222.8
17.Fortinet6597.627.4

Enhanced Real-World Test (August-November)

Below are the results for the 15 attacks used in this test. Please note that the results apply only for the product versions and settings used.

  Test scenarios
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 FPs Score
Avast N 14
Bitdefender N 15
CrowdStrike N 12
ESET N 15
FireEye N 12
Kaspersky N 15
Sophos N 9

 

Key    
Threat detected, no C2 session, system protected 1 point
No alert shown, but no C2 session established, system protected 1 point
Threat not detected, C2 session established 0 points

 

In our opinion, the goal of every AV/EPP/EDR system should be to detect and prevent APTs or other malware as soon as possible. In other words, if the APT is detected before, at or soon after execution, thus preventing the opening of a Command and Control Channel, there is no need to prevent post-exploitation activities. A good burglar alarm should go off when somebody breaks into your house, not wait until they start stealing things.

A product that blocked certain functions (e.g. email attachments, scripts) in our FP test , would not be certified. However, none of the tested products exhibited any such behaviour in the false-alarm/functionality-blocking scenarios used in this particular test.

If a user-dependent alert were shown, we would award half a point. However, there were no such cases in this specific test.

Observations on enterprise products

In this section, we report any additional information of interest to readers. An example might be a program with EDR functions reporting some kind of detection without actually blocking it. Whilst there were no such cases in this test, other points of interest are noted below.

Avast: In three cases, there was no alert, but also no stable C2-session.

Bitdefender: Almost all detections occurred on-access, i.e. before the threat was executed.

CrowdStrike: All detections occurred during execution of the threats. Cases #4, #5 and #11 showed no alert on the client (although blocked), but were reported in the web console.

ESET, Kaspersky: All threats were blocked: most of them were blocked during execution, and some few ones before the threat was executed (on-access).

FireEye: In one case, there was no alert, but also no stable C2-session.

Sophos: Most of the threats were blocked during execution.

Interested readers can find the full report here: https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/enhanced-real-world-test-2019-enterprise/

Product Reviews

On the following pages, you will find user-interface reviews of all the tested products. These consider the experience of using the products in real life. Please note that the reviews do not take test results into consideration, so we kindly ask readers to look at both the review and the test results in order to get a complete picture of any product.

We first look at the type of product, i.e. whether the console is cloud based or server based, and what sort of devices/operating systems can be protected and managed.

The next section looks at installation and deployment of the product. For server-based products, we describe the process of getting the console installed on the server (this is obviously not applicable to cloud-based consoles). The next step – applicable to all products – is to deploy the management agent and endpoint protection software to the client PCs.

The review then moves on to ongoing use, i.e. day-to-day management tasks such as monitoring and maintenance that need to be carried out.

Finally, we take a look at the endpoint protection software installed on the client. Here we consider whether the endpoint user can perform any tasks such as scans and updates themselves, or whether such tasks are controlled exclusively by the administrator using the central management console.

Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus

Verdict

Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus is a strong cloud-based product aimed at the small to medium-sized business. The UI is clear and clean, and the defaults are sensible for the smaller organisation. A non-technical user should not have any problems deploying this and keeping track of events. It’s probably aimed more at the smaller end of the organisational size. However, it still has grouping and profile capabilities to protect the larger estates. We liked the straightforward nature of the platform.

About the product

Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus uses a cloud-based console to manage the endpoint software. The product protects Windows clients, Windows servers and macOS devices. Windows client features include anti-spam, data shredding, a VPN, and data & identity protection. Exchange and SharePoint security are provided for Windows Server. A patch management feature is included for all Windows computers. However, automatic installation of patches requires an Avast Patch Management licence.

Getting up and running

There is no server component to install because it is run from a cloud-based console. You create the account, apply appropriate licensing, and then add devices. Deployment can be carried out via remote push, downloading an installer package, or by sending a download link via email. The installer is offered in two sizes, both being very simple to use. There is a Light version, around 6MB in size, which is just a downloader. The full version is around 300 MB and can be run offline. The former is ideal for smaller networks, the latter is better for larger deployments to minimise internet traffic. The wizard offers to remove existing competitive AV products.

Everyday management

On the server console, there is a clear set of main menus down the left-hand side. These are: Dashboard, Notifications, Devices, Tasks, Patches, Device Settings, Reports, Subscriptions. Help & Support and General Settings are found at the bottom.

The default Dashboard page gives a comprehensive and clear overview of the installation and how it is running. You see how many licenses you have deployed, how many are awaiting activation, when the latest scan was run, and how many threats have been found. The status display at the top of the page warns of any problems, such as out-of-date computers or malware detections. It is a straightforward and reassuring overview for the non-expert administrator. There are also summaries of the patch management, OS distribution and threat detection situations.

Notifications collates all the main event information into one place. You can take a malware event and go through to the Virus Chest (quarantine) on the affected computer from here too. The Notifications Settings panel is comprehensive. It allows you to set up how notifications will be handled across a wide range of scenarios. We particularly liked the “if not read then send email notification” which can be set to “instantly”, “batched end of week” or “never” for each setting. This offers a lot of control of how you are notified when an event occurs. You can ensure that you are not swamped with information that is not immediately relevant.

Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus

The Devices tab (screenshot above) shows each device’s configuration, licensing and last-seen time. You can group devices into groups, and apply settings and policy through that group.

Tasks is a powerful scheduler area. Here the administrator can create tasks to run particular events. For example, do a quick scan every day at 2pm. You can also use it to send a short message to your devices, to update the device and to shut it down too. It is a simple task manager, but has useful capabilities for the small office and organisation.

At the time of writing (September 2019), Patches was marked as a “new” feature in the console menu column. It monitors the state of installed applications, and advises when newer versions are available. Both Microsoft and third-party applications are covered. The status display at the top of the dashboard will warn if any devices are missing critical or non-critical patches. A link here takes you to the Patches page, which shows you which devices are affected. Clicking on a device displays a list of the missing patches, together with convenient download links.

Device Settings allows you to create a settings template which is then applied to a group of devices. In here, you have access to all the control functionality for the device. So, you can determine that file scanning is on, the antispam service is running, the firewall must be applied, and so forth. From these templates, you can apply policies to devices.

The Reports tab gives access to all the statistics about the system and its collection of users. You can drill through here to get a view, and it is a better and more comprehensive overview than the Dashboard view. Our only criticism here is that we found no way to either email a PDF of this page or save it to a file location, which would have been a useful daily report.

As you would expect, Subscriptions shows you the product licences you currently have, and how many of them you have used.

Help & Support provides links to various support and documentation items, including a user guide for the console. This is clear, comprehensive and well indexed, though lacking in screenshots.

General Settings lets you change the system time zone. You can also create a local server for deployments and updates, and import the database of another Avast console.

Windows endpoint protection software

The Windows desktop protection software offers a wide range of capabilities, much like a normal end-user desktop solution. Users can run scans and updates. The central policies determine what they can change or adjust. By default, Windows Standard User Accounts can disable all protection features. Admins may want to prevent this by enabling the password protection feature in the console.

Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus

Malware is detected on file copy and quarantined. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, other than to close the alert.

Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus

The GUI of the server protection software is identical to that of its desktop counterpart.

Bitdefender Endpoint Security Elite

Verdict

There is much to like in Bitdefender Endpoint Security Elite. The design of the management console is very clear. Relevant tasks are grouped together, and the initial walkthrough wizard makes deployment easy. We particularly liked the Dashboard functionality. The Policies feature gives a clear understanding of the rules applied to endpoints.

About the product

Bitdefender Endpoint Security Elite uses a cloud-based console to manage endpoint protection software. Desktops and servers running Windows, macOS and Linux are all supported.

Getting up and running

Getting the main cloud console up and running is very simple: create the cloud account, log in and you have a working environment.

The first thing you see on login is the Essential Steps wizard. This is a four-step process to guide you on getting up and running as quickly as possible. Each panel has copious explanations to help explain what that step is achieving.

Step 1 is Install Protection, which allows you to install directly onto the computer you are working on. You can also email an installation link to remote users. Alternatively, you can use the Remote Installation capability to remotely install the endpoint client on network computers. To enable this, you need to install a “relay” computer, to act as the bridgehead.

Step 2 is to create the Security Policies to be used in your organisation. This allows you to define a pre-cooked set of operational requirements onto each target device, or group of devices.

Step 3 is to create appropriate User Accounts. These are administrative accounts for the management of the platform. The roles here can be Company Administrator, Network Administrator, Reporter and Custom. A Reporter might be e.g. a help-desk role, and can see reports of activity without being able to change users or the company structure.

Step 4 is Reporting, where it shows you how to create appropriate reports of activity on your network.

Having gone through these steps, you should have a deployed and managed network.

Everyday management

The console is particularly clear and clean. This helps make the product suitable for a smaller companies with limited IT support, as well as larger organisations. The main console has a menu structure down the left-hand side. The items are Dashboard, Incidents, Network, Risk Management, Policies, Reports, Quarantine, Accounts and Sandbox Analyzer.

Dashboard gives you an instant overview of the installation and the performance of the clients. Each panel here is called a “Portlet”, and can be clicked on to drill into more information. There are three pages of Portlets in total. We particularly liked the way that the Portlets can be rearranged, added to, and laid out to your preferences. The strong capabilities of Dashboard mean that you can quickly and easily find the information you need.

Incidents allows you to review and investigate threats detected on the network.

Bitdefender Endpoint Security Elite

The main Network page shows you all the managed devices on your network, ordered into groups which you can create yourself (screenshot above). The Packages sub-page lets you configure deployment packages. On the Tasks sub-page you can create tasks such as scans and updates, which can be run once or multiple times on specified devices or groups.

The Risk Management page displays a breakdown of risks according to factors such as date, severity, and number of endpoints affected.

Policies is where you define the operational groups within your organisation, and then apply policies to them. There is a wealth of capability here. You can control the firewall functionality, application operation, and device access (e.g. blocking USB drives). You can set rules for Exchange Server too.

Reports lets you build views of what is happening, by functional group or by task area.

Quarantine gives you an overview of all the malware that has been quarantined on the network, and the ability to choose what to do with those files.

Accounts lets you monitor the activities of the user accounts that have been set up.

Sandbox Analyzer provides a breakdown of unknown files that have been analysed by the sandbox feature, with a severity score from 0 (completely harmless) to 30 (clearly malicious).

Clicking the bell icon in the top right-hand corner opens the Notifications panel. This displays a list of events such as logins and detections. Drilling into an item gives a clear description of what happened. We particularly liked the reporting of a malware outbreak. This informed us that “at least 28% from a total number of X endpoints were found infected with Y malware”. This makes it easy to separate out isolated incidents from a network-wide pandemic.

Windows endpoint protection software

The Windows desktop protection software is a simple application with a clean interface. It clearly shows what is going on, with details of updates carried out, modules enabled, and programs allowed through the firewall. The user interface allows the user to check for updates, and initiate a scan. Users can also view the program’s settings, but the default policy prevents any changes being made. You can easily change the user interface language from the System Tray menu.

Bitdefender Endpoint Security Elite

Malware is detected on file copy and quarantined. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, and the alert closes after a few seconds.

Bitdefender Endpoint Security Elite

The GUI of the server protection software is identical to that of its desktop counterpart.

Cisco Advanced Malware Protection for Endpoints

Verdict

Getting started with Cisco Advanced Malware Protection for Endpoints (AMP) is very straightforward. The console requires no setup, and deploying the client software is quick and easy. Clear and colourful bar and doughnut charts summarise the most important information. Regarding more advanced monitoring and management, there is a lot of functionality available here. The console’s design makes the different features easy to access. However, unlocking the product’s full potential may take some time, depending on various factors like size and complexity of your environment, use cases and so on. For organisations with appropriate IT staff resources, it provides a wealth of features for monitoring, investigating and blocking security threats.

About the product

Cisco AMP provides malware protection for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and Apple iOS devices. These are all managed from a cloud-based console.

Getting up and running

As the console is cloud-based, no installation is necessary. You just browse to the URL and log in. Installers for desktop systems can be found by clicking Management\Download Connector. The setup process is very quick and simple, and only takes a couple of clicks. We note that Windows Defender is not disabled automatically on Windows desktop systems when the Cisco endpoint software is installed.

Everyday management

The cloud console is navigated from a single menu bar at the top of the page. The Dashboard page has a number of sub-pages accessible from a row of tabs at the top. Analysis, Outbreak Control, Management and Accounts are drop-down menus. Each has about 10 individual items.

The Overview page of the Dashboard is probably the best place to start to get a summary of important information. This is shown in the screenshot above. A row of numbers along the top shows statistics for items such as detected threats, quarantined items and compromised devices. Below this are a number of panels with coloured bar and doughnut charts. These show compromises, threats, vulnerabilities, file analysis, OS distribution, network threats and AV definition status. This provides a very clear summary of the most important information. Very conveniently, you can click on the title of any of these panels to go to a details page for that item.

Cisco Advanced Malware Protection for Endpoints

The Computers page, shown above, is accessed from the Management menu. This also provides a row of statistics along the top, such as computers with faults or that need updates. Below this is a list of individual devices, with a status summary for each one. Clicking on the plus sign for a device displays a detailed information panel. This shows information such as OS version, definitions version, internal and external IP addresses, and date and time last seen. You can also start or stop the isolation of a computer from here. The device list can be narrowed by OS type, using the tabs at the top. You can also filter the device list using various details. These include specific OS version, group, or definitions status, by clicking on Filters at the top.

The Management menu contains a number of other standard features. There are Groups, Policies, Exclusions, and deployment options. There is also a Quick Start guide, in the form of a video explaining the product’s features and usage.

In the Analysis menu you can find features for investigating attacks. Events shows a list of threats encountered by protected devices. These include access to risky websites, malicious file downloads, and attempts to quarantine suspected malware. Clicking on an item displays more details, such as the IP address and port of the threat website, and the hash of the malicious file. This lets you take action against the threats, such as blacklisting the file or website and/or starting isolation of the endpoint for triage. If you right-click a file’s hash here, you have the option Investigate in Cisco Threat Response.

This opens a separate console, which provides additional analysis data. Cisco tell us that this includes information from third-party security services as well as their own. The Detections/Quarantine page is similar. However, it filters the information down to actual malware encounters. You can drill down even further on the File Analysis page. This shows you the specific behavioural indicators for detecting a file as malicious. To see which legitimate programs have been involved in malware encounters, take a look at the Threat Root Cause page. A coloured pie chart shows you the distribution of malware encountered by specific applications, such as chrome.exe or explorer.exe. On the Prevalence page, the number of devices affected by a particular threat is shown. Under Vulnerable Software, programs with known vulnerabilities are listed. There is also CVE-ID and CVSS info to help identify and resolve the problem. Finally, Reports provides a very detailed weekly report. This covers numerous items such as threats, compromises and vulnerabilities. These are illustrated with coloured bar and doughnut charts.

The Outbreak Control menu provides options for blocking or whitelisting specific applications and IP addresses. There are also custom detection options. These let you block the installation of any program you consider to be harmful or unwanted anywhere on the network. You can also run IOC (indicator of compromise) scans.

Windows endpoint protection software

The Windows desktop protection software has a very simple GUI, which allows users to run scans and view the logs. Both of these functions open in separate, larger windows. Users can also view settings, but by default these are locked down. Users have a choice of scans they can run. Options are Flash Scan (running processes), Custom Scan, Full Scan and Rootkit Scan.

Cisco Advanced Malware Protection for Endpoints

Malware is detected and quarantined on file copy. By default, detection is silent, i.e. no alert is shown to the user. However, the endpoint software can be configured by policy to show notifications.

The GUI of the server protection software is identical to that of its desktop counterpart.

CrowdStrike Endpoint Protection Platform Standard Bundle

Verdict

CrowdStrike Falcon is a very comprehensive platform. It provides AV services within an organisation, and a comprehensive set of detection and analysis services. We note that CrowdStrike Falcon is available as a fully managed service. This would be ideal for organisations that desire a more hands-off solution. Otherwise, it aims at the larger organisation, and is not really a “fit and forget” product. Basic everyday monitoring and management tasks are simple enough, even without detailed knowledge. However, the product’s capabilities are sophisticated enough that investing learning time will pay dividends. CrowdStrike tell us that learning modules are available online or via external consultancy.

About the product

Crowdstrike Falcon is an endpoint protection platform. It lets you proactively look for malicious activities and adversaries. The cloud-based management console can be run from the cloud on any modern browser. There is endpoint protection software is for Windows/Linux clients and servers, and macOS.

Getting up and running

Management is via a cloud console, and requires no on-premises equipment. Deployment of the client “sensor” is quite simple here. It relies on the download of the appropriate installation package. Automatic sensor deployment using e.g. Windows System Center Configuration Manager is also possible. On macOS clients, you need to run a terminal command after installation. You can find details of this in the documentation. Once installed, the Falcon Sensor is almost invisible to the end user. Docker support allows the installation of the Falcon agent on hosts running Docker. Deployment across an organisation will take planning and appropriate tools. This includes preparation for the appropriate layers of policy to apply to users. Once this work has been done, deployment should be quite straightforward.

Everyday management

The management console is based in a web browser, as you would expect from a cloud-based solution. Two-factor authentication is required to log in, and support for single sign-on solutions is available. There is a menu of buttons down the left-hand side. You can expand this by clicking on the Falcon icon at the top left. The major items are Activity, Investigate, Hosts, Configuration, Dashboards, Discover, Intelligence, Users, and Support.

Activity is the first place to start. There is a strong dashboard here, with the most important items brought into view. Good graphics show detections by scenario over the last 30 days. You can click through to the Detections submenu to view more detail. You get a strong reporting infrastructure, with a good choice of filter options. You can also examine quarantined files and real-time response sessions too.

The Investigate menu takes you into a comprehensive search facility. This covers hosts, hashes, users, IP addresses, domain and event searching. This aims at locating recent specific issues across the network. The default is 24 hours, with pre-set filters for up to 60 days, and customization options are available.

CrowdStrike Endpoint Protection Platform Standard Bundle

The Hosts page, shown above, lists all the host installations, by version and platform. It provides immediate understanding of which hosts are offline or disconnected. From here, you can go to the Sensor Download menu and download sensor installations for all the platforms.

The Configuration menu is the heart of the policy-driven process within CrowdStrike Falcon. From here, you create policy definitions which cover all aspects of the AV and prevention processes of the platform. And then you apply that process to groups of installations. You can have different policies for Windows, Mac and Linux clients here too.

The Dashboards menu displays an executive summary. There are detailed graphics for detections by scenario and severity, plus top 10 users, hosts and files with most detections. This is just the tip of a very deep iceberg allowing for comprehensive analysis. You can search by almost anything, and use this to discover what has happened during an outbreak. This includes where something entered, how it attempted to execute, what processes it used, and the containment method. Getting through this is not for the fainthearted, but it certainly provides a very powerful set of audit and analysis tools.

The Discover menu allows you to discover devices, users and applications on the network. You can search by application inventory, asset, mac address, accounts and other app/process-based inventory. You can also review user account information, including domain/local accounts and their password reset status.

The Intelligence menu provides an overview of the current threat landscape. You can categorise this by different factors. Examples include geographical origin of threat, target industry, and target country. You can even see the attackers’ motivation, e.g. criminal or hacktivist. Each threat is detailed by these parameters. Clicking View Profile on the threat displays a comprehensive analysis and explanation of that specific threat. This is a comprehensive resource which is unusual and most welcome.

The User menu allows you to create profiles for console users. There are pre-built roles already created for Endpoint Manager, Event Viewer, Administrator, Analyst, Investigator, Real Time Responder, and others. You can map these roles to existing working structures, or custom-build new roles as required.

The CrowdStrike Store allows you to extend the capabilities of the Falcon platform with a host of ready-to-go partner apps and add-ons.

Windows endpoint protection software

Under default settings, the Windows desktop and server protection software is invisible to the user. Malware is detected on execution, and quarantined. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, and the alert closes after a few seconds.

CrowdStrike Endpoint Protection Platform Standard Bundle
Endgame Protection Platform

Verdict

Endgame is aimed at larger organizations that require prevention and EDR capabilities. Deploying it will require some planning and training, meaning that it is not a solution that you can just install and forget about. However, for larger organisations with suitable resources, it provides a comprehensive range of features.

About the product

The Endgame endpoint protection platform provides prevention, detection and response measures. It has threat-hunting capabilities aimed at stopping targeted attacks. The management console can be run from the cloud on any modern browser. On-premises deployment is also an option. The platform supports Windows, Linux, Mac, and Solaris clients and servers.

Getting up and running

We used Endgame’s cloud-based infrastructure. This simply requires you to browse to the URL and log in to the management console. Deployment of the client “sensor” can be done in one of two ways: in-band and out-of-band.

In-band is currently only for Windows. The administrator installs the sensor directly onto Windows clients or servers from the Endgame management platform. The administrator can scan the network for unmonitored endpoints and install the sensor after entering credentials for that endpoint.

Out-of-band is supported for all operating systems. Out-of-band installation lets you deploy the sensor using a management tool such as Microsoft System Centre Configuration Manager. You can also install manually after downloading an installation package from the Administration/Sensor page.

The installer is transferred by the administrator to an endpoint and run from an elevated command prompt window. You have to use specific command-line syntax (in the documentation) to do this. Double-clicking the .exe file simply deletes it.

Everyday management

The management console has six menu choices on the left-hand side. Dashboard gives an overview of the status of the entire estate of client devices, and reports how many alerts are in play at any one time. It also displays top alerts, exploits, malware and file-less alerts, allowing for a comprehensive view of what is happening. Each of these can be clicked through to drill into more information.

Endgame Protection Platform

The Endpoints page (shown above) gives a view of all the managed clients. You can select and sort by name, IP address, OS version, policy applied, sensor version, alerts and groups. From here, you can choose a range of endpoints and then run tasks on them. These include applying a new policy, discovering new endpoints, and tagging/uninstalling/deleting endpoints from the catalogue.

Alerts takes you into the heart of the platform. Here you get a list of current event types such as malicious file execution prevention or file detection. The catalogue of events can be sorted and categorised by event type, OS, IP address, host and date. Most important is the ability to assign an event to a user to manage that alert, and ensure it is appropriately dealt with.

If you click on an event, it takes you to the Alert Details page for that event. Here you can see much more detail about the event, where it started, what it has done and the analysis of the malware if appropriate. Here you can choose Take Action: the options include Download Alert, Resolve, Dismiss, Start Investigation, Isolate Host, Download File, Delete File or Whitelist Items. Of particular interest here is the Start Investigation feature which lets you create a Hunt. A Hunt can cover multiple information sources, e.g. firewall rules, drivers, network, persistence, process, registry, media, or system configuration. It allows you to search the network for information relevant to your enquiry.

A key component here is the Ask Artemis feature, which is a natural language query engine. You can simply type in a question, and Artemis will attempt to resolve it.

The Investigations menu item shows a list of ongoing investigations, who is assigned to them, which endpoints were involved, and so forth. This is very important for understanding how the current analysis is progressing.

Reporting provides a simple overview of alert types and endpoints in graphical form.

Finally, the Administration menu item gives access to the Policy Settings, Users, Sensors, Alerts, Whitelist and Platform features. The Policy Settings page lets you define policy for events such as privilege escalation, process injection, and credential access. As an example, you can choose what policy to apply when malware is executed. Do you detect or prevent it? Do you allow self-injection or detect DLL injection and so forth? This is a level of power and control that goes significantly beyond normal antivirus.

Windows endpoint protection software

The Windows desktop and server protection software is essentially invisible to the user. Malware is detected on file copy, and is quarantined. An example alert is shown below. This takes the form of a banner running across the screen. The user cannot take any action, other than to close the alert.

Endgame Protection Platform
ESET Endpoint Protection Advanced Cloud with ESET Cloud Administrator

Verdict

The ESET Endpoint Protection Advanced Cloud package is very well suited to the SME market. ESET have made it very flexible and scalable. It is simple enough for a company of 25 users, but also sophisticated enough to cope with larger networks. You can get the console operational in no time, and its simple menu structure makes it very easy to navigate. We found the interface very intuitive, and were able to deploy and manage the client software without any difficulty. The ability to customise different elements of the console is very welcome. We also noticed that the console is very responsive when it comes to showing alerts. Overall, it provides a very attractive option for small to medium-sized businesses.

About the product

As its name suggests, ESET Endpoint Protection Advanced Cloud includes a cloud-based management console. There is endpoint protection software for Windows clients, Windows file servers, and macOS clients. For the Windows and macOS clients, you get the choice of Endpoint Antivirus or Endpoint Security. The latter includes a web control feature and ESET’s Network Protection module. The licence also allows you to install unmanaged protection for Linux and Android devices.

Getting up and running

As the console is cloud-based, there is no installation required. You just open the URL and enter your credentials. When you log on for the first time, you can choose the location (country) of the datacentre to be used. There is also a recommendation to set up two-factor authentication, but this is optional. Next, the startup wizard invites you to create installation packages. Naturally, you can cancel this and come back to the task later. After the wizard has been completed, a tutorial runs. This is very short and simple, and points out the main areas of the console interface. To install the client software, you first need to create installation packages on the Installers page. This first requires you to select a product. You can enable or disable the PUA detection and ESET Live Grid feedback options, or get the wizard to prompt for these during installation. Language, Group and Policy can also be specified.

Once you have made an installer, you can send it to users by email directly from the console. Alternatively, you can download it and distribute it via network share or removable device, or use the mass deployment tool. When you run the installer on a target computer, the setup wizard lets you choose the interface language. Otherwise there are no choices to make, and installation completes with a couple of clicks. It is also possible to install the ESET Management Agent via a Microsoft Active Directory or System Center Configuration Manager script, and then push the endpoint software from the console. This choice of deployment methods means that the product would work well for both smaller and larger networks.

Everyday management

You can find all the main functions of the console in a single menu column on the left-hand side. The console opens on the Dashboard/Computers page, shown in the screenshot above. This provides an at-a-glance overview of the network, in the form of colour-coded doughnut charts. You can see the security status of the network, along with details of any problems and rogue computers. The time of last connection and last update are also shown, as is the distribution of different operating systems. You can easily get more details for any item just by clicking on its graphic. Similar links to details and solutions are provided throughout the console. The panels of the dashboard are very customisable. You can move them around, resize them, and change the chart type, among other things. Other tabs on the Dashboard page let you zoom in on antivirus or firewall threats, ESET applications, and incidents.

ESET Endpoint Protection Advanced Cloud with ESET Cloud Administrator

The Computers page is shown above. It gives you an overview of all the managed devices on the network; you can click on a computer’s entry to get more detailed information about that device. This includes a detailed hardware inventory, amongst other things. You can also organise computers into groups, and carry out tasks such as scans and updates. There are some pre-configured dynamic groups, for example Computers with outdated operating system. These make it easy to find all the devices that need your attention.

The Threats page shows information about all threats encountered by all managed devices on the network. You can click on the entry for any threat to get details such as file hash, source URL and detection mechanism.

Reports provides a wide range of preconfigured scenarios such as Active Threats and Last Scan. Running a report on one of these is as simple as clicking its tile on the page. You can also create your own report scenarios if you want. Reports can be scheduled, and you can specify the language.

Tasks allows you to take a wide variety of actions on individual devices or groups. These include running scans, product installations and updates. You can also run OS-related tasks, such as installing Windows Updates and shutting down the computer.

Policies has a convenient list of preconfigured policies that you can apply. These include different security levels, device control options, and how much of the user interface to show to users. You can also create your own custom policies if you want.

Computer Users allows you to create users, add contact details, and link them to devices.

On the Quarantine page, you can see all quarantined files, along with useful details such as the hash, threat type (Trojan, PUA, test file), and number of computers affected.

Notifications lets you receive email notifications for a number of different scenarios. These include threats being detected, and endpoint software being out of date. These are very simple to set up and edit. You just have to select the scenario(s), enter an email address, and enable the notification.

Windows endpoint protection client

By default, the Windows desktop protection software has a full GUI. This has very similar functionality to a consumer antivirus program. The GUI is a model of simple and clean design. All the features are easily accessible from a single menu on the left-hand side of the window. Users can run updates and scans, and see logs and quarantined files. However, Windows Standard Users cannot disable protection or restore items from quarantine. If you want, you can set a policy from the console to disable the GUI on any device or group; in this case, no interface will be visible to the user.

ESET Endpoint Protection Advanced Cloud with ESET Cloud Administrator

Malware is detected on file copy, and is quarantined. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, and the alert closes after a few seconds.

ESET Endpoint Protection Advanced Cloud with ESET Cloud Administrator

The GUI of the server protection software is very similar to its desktop counterpart. However, additional system information is provided on the home page. The Log Files feature also has its own entry in the menu column.

ESET Endpoint Protection Advanced Cloud with ESET Cloud Administrator
FireEye Endpoint Security

Verdict

FireEye Endpoint Security is a highly powerful platform. It includes signature-based, behavioural and machine-learning engines. A core strength is in the acquisition of data from the agent for analysis and subsequent decision-making process. This allows the admin to hunt down and investigate any threats that might bypass initial detection.

This deep insight enables analysis and response across the largest of enterprises. There is however a significant entry cost in terms of training. This is required for both the initial configuration and ongoing operations. To get the most out of FireEye Endpoint Security, security operations teams should have some knowledge of investigations. Alternatively, FireEye can assist with their Managed Defence practice. However, it should deliver a level of insight and operational management which is at the bleeding edge.

About the product

FireEye Endpoint Security provides endpoint protection with detection and response. There is a cloud-based management console. The product is designed to handle the largest of organizations, with support for up to 100,000 endpoints per appliance. There are agents available for Windows clients and servers, macOS, and various Linux distributions.

Getting up and running

The cloud console requires no significant installation. Client installers can be downloaded from the Admin menu/Agent Versions page, and deployed onto the client machines.

The management console is quite different from a conventional centralised AV product. The emphasis is on detection and response. This involves acquisition of data from clients, analysis of it, and then responding appropriately.

The platform has an extremely powerful and extensive set of information gathering tools. These allow you to build comprehensive queries of almost any type. These are then dispatched to the clients. Analysing this information is the core of the server product.

You could treat FireEye as a straightforward AV package, allowing the engines to process malware as it is found. However, the real strength comes in the analysis and containment capabilities.

There is little work required to configure the platform once the agents are deployed. Of course, you can build custom policies if you wish. But it is likely that global default settings will be the bedrock of the deployment.

There isn’t much in the way of handholding in the initial setup process for the smaller organisation. Clearly the product is aimed at the more professional, larger organisation. It also assumes there will be training and consultancy for deployment.

Everyday management

FireEye Endpoint Security

The management console is not a tool to be dipped into occasionally. Unlocking its huge power needs considerable understanding of what the platform offers and how to achieve it. There is little handholding here. The product is aimed squarely at the large corporate space, where training and consultancy will be provided. From that point of view, this is not a product for the SME space.

Firstly, you need to understand what FireEye is trying to achieve. It relies on threat detection, plus data gathering and analysis. The emphasis here is solidly on information acquisition, analysis and reporting. This allows the administrator to gather information from a wide array of client machines. The information can then be processed, allowing you to take actions based upon it.

There is a basic front-page overview of the status of the deployed agents. This allows you to drill down into more detail. As an ongoing view, this is probably sufficient. The power comes once you drill into the Hosts, Enterprise Search, Acquisitions and Rules sections. The essential component here is building search routines to find what you are looking for. You can request containment of the device. This locks out the user whilst informing them of the centralised management control. You can then to dig through what is happening. This ability to lock out a device is a key component of the handling of a widespread malware event.

It should not be underestimated how much technical and systems knowledge is required to get the best from this. This is not a criticism. Indeed, for a hard-core IT administrator, it is a great strength to have access to this level of query and analysis of the network.

Windows endpoint protection software

The Windows desktop and server protection software does not provide any user interface. Malware is detected on file copy, and is quarantined. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, and the alert closes after a few seconds.

FireEye Endpoint Security
Fortinet FortiClient with Enterprise Management Server & FortiSandbox

Verdict

The Fortinet Enterprise Management Server package is a strong product. It is probably aimed at larger organisations. It is straightforward to deploy, but would benefit from more handholding for the smaller organisation. There is some welcome graphical reporting, but more help could be given to dig through the status of the network. The day-to-day operation would benefit from training time to get the most out of the product.

About the product

The server-based console is called FortiClient Enterprise Management Server (EMS), and the client is called FortiClient. The console requires a Windows Server OS (2008 R2) or later. There is endpoint protection software for Windows clients and servers, Mac OS X and Linux.

Getting up and running

EMS is a local server-based product. Installing the management console is very simple and requires almost no user interaction. The console functionality can be accessed from the desktop shortcut (dedicated window), or a web browser. Once up and running, there are some tasks you need to perform before the client can be deployed. The real-time protection feature of the endpoint protection software is disabled in the default policy. However, it is very simple to switch it on under Endpoint Profiles/Default.

You can then deploy the client to the desktop. The installer can be downloaded by browsing to the server’s URL or www.forticlient.com. If you get the setup file from the server, it will connect automatically to EMS. Otherwise you will need to connect the endpoint client on each machine to the server. This just involves typing in the server’s IP address and clicking Connect. On the server side, there are good reports for devices discovered that are not part of the management structure, and it is easy to remediate this. There is a clear and clean view of the status of the network through the Dashboard/FortiClient Status view.

Creating users for the management console is fairly easy. A user can be assigned granular permissions. These include creation, update and deleting of various settings, and the abilities to manage endpoints. Finally, you can assign permissions for policy management here too. So, you can create a relatively fine-grained set of permissions here for various administrative levels.

There isn’t much in the way of handholding in the initial setup process for the smaller company. Clearly the product is aimed at larger organisations, with training and consultancy provided.

Everyday management

The Enterprise Management Server console has a fairly clear UI. It definitely benefits from a larger screen. There is a single menu down the left-hand side. Clicking an item here populates the right-hand side of the window. The Dashboard/FortiClient Status page provides a graphical overview of the platform and client status. You can click through from the items to get more data, but it is not always clear what detail has been uncovered. For example, taking our “2 infected endpoints”, we click through and get a view of the two devices. But again, there is little here to tell me what is actually wrong with these devices. More clarity here would help when dealing with problems and outbreaks.

The Vulnerability Scan page has an interesting set of “traffic light” views. These go from green (low) through yellow (medium) to orange (high) and red (critical). Underneath this is a set of buttons selecting what is being reported. For example, operating system, browser, MS Office and Services are shown. Moving the mouse over these buttons causes a graphical refresh of the traffic lights. However, it is not clear what the data means until you actually click on a button. This is a useful interface that is slightly compromised by its implementation.

Fortinet FortiClient with Enterprise Management Server & FortiSandbox

The Endpoints page (shown above) allows you to look at the status of all endpoints. There is an attempt to be graphical here, but some of the icons could be clearer in their meaning.

Endpoint Profile lets you build up the policy to be pushed to a user’s computer. It is quite straightforward and obvious what needs to be done here. There is a Basic/Advanced view button which is helpful if you want to dig into the details, or stay with a more simplified view.

Finally, Administration and System Settings allow control of the underlying settings of the platform.

It is fairly straightforward to get reports of what is happening, and initiate scans or remedial actions as required. The UI is quite well designed, but would benefit from some final polish to make it more obvious. A stronger splitting of setup from day-to-day and from system administration would help too.

Windows endpoint protection software

The Windows desktop protection software provides a program window with status information. Users can run scans, but not change any settings.

Fortinet FortiClient with Enterprise Management Server & FortiSandbox

Malware is detected on file copy, and is quarantined. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, other than to close the alert.

Fortinet FortiClient with Enterprise Management Server & FortiSandbox

The GUI of the server protection software is identical to that of its desktop counterpart.

K7 Cloud Endpoint Security

Verdict

K7 Cloud Endpoint Security is designed for enterprises of all sizes, but its ease of use makes it particularly suitable for smaller businesses. It is very quick and easy to set up, due to the cloud-based console and very simple installation process. The management console is very easy to navigate, and the endpoint client lets users carry out scans and updates very simply. One minor suggestion for improvement would be to include links from the Dashboard panels to the relevant details pages. However, overall it is very straightforward and intuitive to use.

About the product

K7 Cloud Endpoint Security uses a cloud-based administration console to manage endpoint protection software for Windows clients and servers.

Getting up and running

As the console is cloud-based, no installation is necessary. You just browse to the URL and log on. Deploying endpoint protection software is almost as simple. All you need to do is go to the Settings page and download an installation package, then run this. The setup wizard is very simple, with no choices to be made. Thus you can install the client with just a couple of clicks.

Everyday management

All the console’s functionality can be accessed from a single menu strip at the top of the window. When you log in, the console opens on the Dashboard page, which shows an overview of the system status. There are various detail panels, showing detected threats, blocked websites, violations of hardware policy, device connection statistics, numbers of devices running specific Windows versions, and a timeline of threats discovered. Unfortunately, there are no links to further information. If you want to find more details of any of these items, you have to browse to other pages.

The Groups page of the console lists device groups you have created. There are links to the policy applied to each group, and a list of tasks you can apply to all group members.

The Devices page, shown in the screenshot below, lists individual computers on the network. The links in the Actions column let you change a computer’s group, uninstall Endpoint Security on it, or view its details.

K7 Cloud Endpoint Security

From the Application Control page, you can regulate which applications are allowed to run or access the LAN/Internet. This can be done very simply by selecting an application from the list, and selecting Block from Running, Block Internet Access or Block Network Access from the drop-down list. You can add an application not already on the list using its MD5 hash value. We note that a file’s MD5 hash could potentially be spoofed, and suggest that SHA256 would be more secure.

The Policies page lets you control settings for the endpoint software. These are conveniently ordered into groups such as Anti-Virus, Behaviour Protection, Firewall, Web Filtering and Device Control.

Under Actions you can create tasks to run on individual computers or groups. Available tasks include a variety of scans and a client update.

The Settings page might better be called “Installation”, as its only function is to let you download installation packages for the endpoint protection software.

Reports page provides a very simple means of running reports on items such as detected threats and vulnerabilities, and scan results.

Windows endpoint protection software

The Windows desktop protection software has a window with a component status display. This lets users run definition updates and a wide variety of scans. However, no settings are accessible to the user by default. This can be changed by the administrator in the policy, if so desired.

K7 Cloud Endpoint Security

Should the user inadvertently try to copy malware to the system, it is immediately detected on access, and deleted. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, and the alert closes after a few seconds.

K7 Cloud Endpoint Security

The GUI of the server protection software is identical to that of its desktop counterpart.

Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business Select

Verdict

Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business Select is a powerful and sophisticated product. It is aimed at medium-sized businesses and larger enterprises. There is very good cross-platform support, and a dual interface. The web-based console provides a wealth of functionality. The menu structure is straightforward. However, some learning time would be required to make the most of it.

About the product

Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business Select uses server-based management functionality. It supports management of endpoint software for Windows, Mac, and Linux desktops, plus Windows and Linux servers. There is also support for Android and iOS mobile devices. A dual management interface is available. Users have the choice of a web-based console (please see screenshot above), or an MMC-based console too. We have looked at the web-based console in this review. You can find a description of the MMC-based console in the report of our July 2019 Business Security Test. Users might like to compare the different interfaces, to decide which one best suits their needs.

Getting up and running

Installing the management console is a straightforward process for an experienced administrator. An SQL database is required, which could be the free Microsoft SQL Server Express. You can use Windows credentials to log in to the console if you want. When you first run the web-based console, an optional brief tutorial is shown. This highlights the most important functions, and provides a brief description of each. Next, the Quick Start Wizard takes you through initial configuration. The steps are: product activation, configuration of notifications, and proxy server settings. Finally, the Protection Deployment Wizard lets you set up remote push software installation. You can also install clients manually (there are three different methods of doing this).

Everyday management

The console functions are arranged in two menu bars across the top of the page. The upper menu bar shows the main functionality areas. These are Monitoring & Reporting, Devices, Users & Roles, Discovery & Deployment, and Operations. The lower menu bar provides access to the sub-pages of each major menu item. In some cases, the items on the lower menu bar open drop-down lists of further items.

The Monitoring and Reporting\Dashboard page provides a graphical overview of important items. These include protection status, new devices, plus details of threats and infected devices. Please see the screenshot above. The Reports page lets you run a wide variety of reports, on topics such as protection status, deployment, updates and threats. These can be easily accessed from a preconfigured list.

On the Notifications page, there is a list of recent alerts. You can filter these by topic, such as deployment, devices or protection.

The Devices tab, Managed Devices page lists managed computers, along with the status of major components. You can filter the list using criteria such as operating system, real-time protection or last time seen. By selecting individual devices, you can run tasks on them. These include installation, deinstallation, or changing group membership.

Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business Select

The Policies and Profiles page lets you create and apply new configuration policies. Device Selections provides advanced filtering options for selecting clients.

Under Users & Roles, you can see a list of predefined console users, along with Windows local and domain accounts for the Windows computers on the network. These can be assigned one of 16 different management roles for the console, allowing very granular access.

Discovery & Deployment includes various features for discovering unmanaged devices on the network, and deploying software to them. The Quick Start Wizard can be rerun from here. The Device Selections page lets you find devices in pre-configured groups. Examples include Databases are outdated and Devices with Critical status.

Amongst other things, the Operations tab provides an overview of licensing, repositories, and the quarantine functions. The Backup feature actually appears to be a standard quarantine function. Malware that had been detected on client PCs was found here. However, there is a separate Quarantine feature, which was empty after our test. The Kaspersky online knowledge base explains the functions of these two items: https://help.kaspersky.com/KSC/11/en-US/12429.htm

Windows endpoint protection software

The Windows desktop protection application is oriented towards central management by IT staff, rather than local management by the end user. Consequently, users can view settings, but not change them. The program window is essentially a comprehensive status display. It shows security status and detection statistics for the different technologies involved. These include machine learning, cloud analysis, and behavioural analysis. As in the console, the Backup feature is part of the quarantine functionality. We note that users can run scans of drives, folders or files by means of the context menu in Windows Explorer.

Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business Select

Malware is detected on file copy and quarantined. No alert is shown. The GUI of the server protection software is identical to that of the client.

McAfee Endpoint Security with ATP and ePolicy Orchestrator Cloud

Verdict

McAfee’s ePolicy Orchestrator Cloud is undoubtedly powerful, and as part of a wider McAfee managed platform it offers a lot. However, the management of the ePolicy Orchestrator Cloud console requires some training. We felt that the range of functionality means that everyday management functions are not as easy to find as in less-sophisticated products. However, it is a product which will reward the initial learning phase with easier management procedures later on.

About the product

This is a cloud-based management console with desktop AV package. Endpoint Security is a client that runs on the desktop, with clients provided for macOS and Windows. There is a web-based console called ePolicy Orchestrator Cloud. The cloud-based product is aimed at businesses of up to 10,000 users. There are clients for Windows clients and servers, and macOS. A generous 60-day trial period is provided, so you can evaluate the product at length before purchasing.

Getting up and running

Access to the web portal is straightforward via a standard username/password login combination. The user interface is quite modular, depending on your current task. Across the top is a dropdown menu. Then there are main menu items of Dashboards, Getting Started, Systems, and Queries & Reports. The best place to start is at the Getting Started menu. Here you get a very simple page where you can download the installation client package for the platform which you are currently running.

Running the endpoint protection setup package is quick and easy. Initially, just the agent itself is installed. The selected protection components are then downloaded and installed automatically over a time period of 20 minutes or so.

Everyday management

The web console is usefully split into several main working areas. The default Dashboards page offers a wide range of reports and views. These include areas such a Compliance Status, Protection Summary and Web Control Activity. The Systems tab, shown below, lists all installations together with their status, IP address and last communication timestamp.

McAfee Endpoint Security with ATP and ePolicy Orchestrator Cloud

We found one aspect of the GUI to be unclear here. All of the date/time stamps in the management console appear to be on Eastern (Daylight) Time zone. We feel it is far from obvious to the first-time user how to change the time zone to a local one.

The Dashboards tab has a wide range of reports and views available, and each of them allows you to click through to more data. We found this functionality to be useable, although not quite as intuitive as we would have liked.

It should be noted that in general, ePO Cloud becomes easier to use the more you become familiar with it. Admins using ePO Cloud for the first time should bear in mind that time spent learning about how it works will pay dividends later on. There are a number of ways that daily tasks can be made easier by automatization. You can also customize the interface, e.g. by adding commonly used functions to the quick-links bar at the top.

Windows endpoint protection software

The Windows desktop protection software provides scanning and updating functions, and shows the status of each protection component. Most other controls – such as the event logs and quarantine – are disabled by default for standard users.

McAfee Endpoint Security with ATP and ePolicy Orchestrator Cloud

Malware is detected on file copy, and quarantined. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, and the alert closes after a few seconds.

McAfee Endpoint Security with ATP and ePolicy Orchestrator Cloud

The GUI of the server protection software is identical to that of its desktop counterpart.

Microsoft Windows Defender Antivirus for Business with Intune

Verdict

The Intune cloud console has a very clean, modern design. It is very easy to navigate using the single menu bar on the left-hand side. The Live Tiles on the Dashboard page provide a good overview of the security situation. The integrated links mean that the admin can easily find more information, and take the necessary action. The management agent can easily be deployed manually in smaller companies. You can also deploy via Group Policy, for larger enterprises. Intune can be used to manage thousands of devices. Its intuitive, easy-to-navigate interface make it an excellent choice.

About the product

Intune is a cloud-based service. It provides companies with security management for their devices, apps and data. Platforms covered are Windows Desktop, Windows Mobile, macOS, iOS and Android. This review covers the use of Microsoft Intune to manage Windows’ out-of-box antivirus and security features. Please note that a dual management interface is available. In this review, we have covered the Classic interface, shown above.

Getting up and running

As the management console is cloud based, no installation is necessary. A management agent has to be deployed to the clients. After this, you can monitor and control them from the console. The agent is easily found under Admin/Client Software Download. You can install it manually on the client with just a couple of clicks. For larger networks, the admin can use Group Policy to deploy the software automatically.

In the case of Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 clients, Microsoft’s antivirus client is already incorporated into the operating system. No further software installation is required. With Windows 7 PCs, however, the antivirus client is not pre-installed, but is available as an update. If the Intune management agent is installed on a Windows 7 client without AV protection, the Microsoft AV client update will be installed automatically.

Everyday management

The Intune console is navigated using a very neat, clean menu column on the left-hand side. The Dashboard (home) page displays the status of different components using Live Tiles. The Endpoint Protection tile shows the number of devices with resolved and unresolved malware detections. These are displayed graphically as colour-coded bar charts. Other tiles provide information on Warnings/Critical Alerts, and Device Health. Clicking on an element within a tile, such as Warnings, opens the relevant details page for the item concerned.

Under Groups\Devices, you can see managed computers. There are details such as operating system and date & time of last update. The Protection page provides a more detailed overview of malware detections, device status and most frequently detected malware. There is also a list of all malware items that have been detected in the network. Alerts displays details of all security-related warnings, including reports any of failed client software deployments.

Endpoint protection software

The precise nature of the Windows desktop protection software GUI is dependent on the version of Windows installed on the PC. Up-to-date Windows 10 clients (Builds 1809, 1903) have the Windows Defender Security Center interface. This is shown below:

Microsoft Windows Defender Antivirus for Business with Intune

Older versions of Windows, including Windows 7 and 8.1, use the same GUI as Microsoft Security Essentials. This is similar to that of a typical consumer antivirus program. All variants allow the user to update malware definitions, and run full, quick, custom and context-menu scans.

Malware is detected on file copy, and quarantined. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, and the alert closes after a few seconds.

Microsoft Windows Defender Antivirus for Business with Intune

The GUI of the server protection software is essentially the same as its desktop counterpart. However, the components Account protection, Device performance & health and Family options are not included in Windows Server.

Panda Endpoint Protection Plus on Aether

Verdict

Panda Endpoint Protection Plus on Aether is a very strong product. It is powerful enough for larger organisations, but simple enough for smaller businesses too. It is very easy to set up, as it requires no on-site server. There is an excellent, very clean and useful administrative console. This has a clear installation and deployment workflow. We were particularly impressed with the clean and obvious design of the user interface, and the speed at which it could be mastered.

About the product

This is a cloud-console managed system. There are device clients for Windows servers, Windows/Linux PCs, and Android mobile devices. The desktop client software has a simple interface, which allows users to run updates and various scans. It is suitable for organisations of all sizes.

Getting up and running

The product is managed from a cloud-based console, which requires no installation. Deployment is carried out using the Add Computers button on the Computers page. You can download the installer directly, or click on Send by email. This opens an email message with a link for download and installation. This works for Windows, Linux and Android. The user clicks on the provided link to install the client, and this is then automatically licensed. Either installation method lets you pre-allocate the client to a management group.

Everyday management

Protection status and threat detection history are provided on the Status tab/Security page, which opens by default. There are excellent graphics for detected threats. These include malware types, detection origin, and blocked URLs here. This provides a solid daily overview of issues. We particularly liked it because it provides a headline view of the status, but allows you to click through for more detailed information. For example, clicking on the main Protection Status graphic takes you to the Computers page. The console’s quarantine function is accessed by clicking on Threats detected by the antivirus.

The Status tab includes a left-hand menu column, from which you can open additional status pages.

Web access and spam shows categories of website, such webmail, games and business, which users have accessed. Executive Report lets you quickly create reports. Subjects include licence status, security status, detections, plus web access and spam. You can choose any or all of these categories, and select the time period and groups of computers. Licenses is self-explanatory. A section called My Lists provides simple but useful overviews of different aspects of the network. There are links for hardware and software of managed computers, plus lists of unprotected workstations and servers. This list is customisable, and a number of other categories can be added. These include computer protection status, threats detected by AV, and web access by computer.

The Computers tab, shown below, lists computers on the network. You can filter by various criteria, including OS, hardware and installed software. You can also display computers by management group.

Panda Endpoint Protection Plus on Aether

This page shows all the protected computers and mobile devices. It is very clearly laid out, and shows essential information. A Windows-like folder tree on the left lets you show devices by group.

Using the Settings tab/Users page, you can create console users and assign them full control or read-only access. The Security section lets you define separate security policies for computers and Android mobile devices. Under My Alerts you can set up email notifications for various items. These include malware and phishing detections, unlicensed/unmanaged/unprotected/unlicensed computers, and installation errors. Other settings pages let you manage updates and proxy servers etc.

Finally, the Tasks tab can be used to set up scheduled scans.

Windows endpoint protection software

The Windows desktop protection software allows access to solid end-user capabilities like Full Scan, Critical Areas Scan and Custom Scan. The user can force a synchronisation of the updates from the System Tray menu. However, there is no access to any settings.

Panda Endpoint Protection Plus on Aether

Malware is detected on file copy, and is quarantined. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, and the alert closes after a few seconds.

Panda Endpoint Protection Plus on Aether

The GUI of the server protection software is identical to that of its desktop counterpart.

Seqrite Endpoint Security Cloud

Verdict

Seqrite Endpoint Security Cloud provides an easy-to-navigate cloud console. There is a choice of straightforward deployment methods. This makes it simple to use for small businesses, but there is enough functionality for larger enterprises too. It would be a good choice for small companies with plans to expand.

About the product

Seqrite Endpoint Security Cloud provides endpoint protection for Windows, macOS and Linux clients, and Windows servers. Additional features include data-loss prevention and asset management. As the name implies, the management console is cloud-based. Thus, the service is accessible from any modern browser.

Getting up and running

No setup is required for the console, as it is cloud based. You just browse to the URL and log in. Three options are provided for deploying the endpoint protection software to clients. All of these are conveniently accessible from the same page. You can download an installer package from the console, and run it on client PCs. Alternatively, you can send an installer link to users by email, directly from the console. The third option is to download and run a remote installer package, to deploy the software to clients on the LAN.

Everyday management

All the main functionality of the console is found in a single menu panel on the left-hand side. This can be expanded to show the text of the menu items, or collapsed so show just the icons. The console opens on the Dashboard page. This provides an at-a-glance overview of the system security status. Panels at the top show the total number of endpoints on the network, and how many of these are protected and infection-free. Other panels use line or doughnut charts to show infection status, update status, last connection time of endpoints, and OS distribution. You can move or delete individual panels to make your own customised dashboard. Clicking on a section of one of the charts (e.g. recently connected endpoints) conveniently displays a details panel for that item.

Seqrite Endpoint Security Cloud

Under the Computer heading, (shown above) Status lists individual devices and shows key information. This includes the policy applied, update status and last connection time. You can easily carry out tasks from this page, by selecting computers and then using the Client Actions menu to run scans and updates etc.

On the Deployment page, you can download preconfigured installers for clients. You can also create your own customised installers or use the email/remote install options on the same page.

Policies lets you see existing policies and the devices that apply them. You can also see the details of each policy, and duplicate any policy as a basis for customisation.

Under Configurations, there are options for the device control and application control features. You can also specify the installation path for Windows clients.

Reports provides a number of preconfigured reports, such as Virus Scan, Web Security and Firewall. You can also create your own custom report from scratch.

The Admin section covers things like licences, console users and their specified roles, plus notifications.

Windows endpoint protection software

The Windows desktop protection software has a fully featured GUI. This has the same functionality as a typical consumer antivirus program. The design is clear and modern, with a single row of tiles for major functions. Users can run quick, full, custom, memory and boot-time scans. However, standard users are not able to change any of the program’s settings.

Seqrite Endpoint Security Cloud

Malware is detected on file copy, and is deleted. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, and the alert closes after a few seconds.

Seqrite Endpoint Security Cloud

The GUI of the server protection software is identical to that of its desktop counterpart.

Sophos Intercept X Advanced

Verdict

There is a lot of power and capability here, and the design of the management console is clean and well laid out. Most of the product works in a clear and consistent way. For a reasonably experienced system administrator, it is straightforward to implement, deploy and manage. For new system admins, the scope of functionality available in the console may make essential AV management tasks a little slower to find.

About the product

Sophos Intercept X Advanced uses a cloud console (Sophos Central) to manage Windows clients and servers, and macOS clients. The package includes Intercept X, which uses neural network analysis of malware. It provides protection from ransomware and exploits, along with additional browser security. There are also investigative and removal capabilities.

Getting up and running

The product is wholly managed from a cloud-based console. Licenses are applied to this, and then can be handed out to client computers. Installing the client is very straightforward. You can download the installation package and install from that, or push it out through your chosen management interface.

Devices can be assigned to groups (as you would expect), and inherit centrally defined policy. Users are automatically created in Sophos Central when they use a Sophos-protected device. They can also be imported via CSV, and synched via an Active Directory application. A user account is also used to control access to the Sophos management facilities. A user can be classified as User, SuperAdmin, Admin, Help Desk and Read-only here. This allows a layered configuration of management of the Sophos platform. There is a range of capabilities which can be applied to policy. These include web URL blocking, peripheral control and management of application execution.

Everyday management

The Sophos Central Dashboard view is quite straightforward. It has a clean, uncluttered user interface, offering an overview of all the systems and protection capabilities. Here you can see how many endpoints are active, the most recent alerts, and statistics on the web URL access management.

The Alerts item gives you a list of all the alerts which have occurred. You can sort by Description, Count and Actions.

Logs and Reports shows a collection of default reports. A notable report here is Policy Violators. This shows those users who have tried to access blocked websites most often.

People (computer users) and Global Settings do what you would expect.

Devices shows the managed devices on the network. These are separated into three different pages: Computers, Mobile Devices, Servers, as shown below:

Sophos Intercept X Advanced

Endpoint Protection takes you to another set of user interface and menus. This also has pages for Dashboard, Logs and Reports, People and Computers menu items. Here you can also configure policies, settings and download endpoint installation packages.

Windows Endpoint Protection Software

The Windows desktop protection software has a GUI with a comprehensive status display. It also allows users to carry out scan tasks. The Status tab displays the overall security status, and provides summaries of recent threat types. The Events tab lists recent malware detections. Users can run a full system scan from the Scan button on the Status page. Alternatively, they can right-click a file, folder or drive in Windows Explorer, and click Scan with Sophos Anti-Virus in the context menu.

Sophos Intercept X Advanced

Malware is detected on file copy, and is deleted. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, and the alert closes after a few seconds.

Sophos Intercept X Advanced

The GUI of the server protection software is identical to that of its desktop counterpart.

SparkCognition DeepArmor Endpoint Protection Platform

Verdict

SparkCognition DeepArmor EPP is very straightforward to set up. The console is cloud based, and the deployment process is simple. The management console has a very clean design that avoids overwhelming the admin. Getting the most out of the product would doubtless take some time, but the user interface makes this process as easy as possible.

About the product

SparkCognition uses a cloud-based console to manage the endpoint protection software. There are clients for Windows, Mac and Linux systems.

Getting up and running

The console does not require any installation, as it is cloud-based. Deployment of endpoint protection software is similar for all platforms. You just download the appropriate installer from the Deployment page of the console, and run it on the respective client device. This is a very straightforward process. You can install Windows clients using System Centre Configuration Manager or PowerShell.

Everyday management

When you log in to the console, you will see the Alerts Dashboard (screenshot above). This provides a summary of recent threats. The Devices Dashboard displays a device-centred overview. This shows you the total number of devices on your network, group membership, devices at risk, device connection status, and distribution of different endpoint agent versions. The title text for each dashboard panel is a link to more details. For example, clicking Medium Risk Devices shows you a list of devices with that status.

SparkCognition DeepArmor Endpoint Protection Platform

On the Devices page, you can see individual computers on your network. You can display these as tiles, as shown above, or as a simple list. By selecting a device or devices, you can run scans, change group membership, or remove from the console. It is possible to filter the devices displayed by using drop-down lists at the top of the page. You can filter by device group, connection, device risk, device platform or device version.

The Alerts page shows recent alerts, along with details. These include the file name of the malware, how it was detected, detection name, “confidence” (probability that the file really is malicious), name of affected device, time of detection, action taken or required, and file hash. Sub-tabs of each file’s details page show all detections of the file across the network (Occurrences). There are also further details of the file, as well as the device on which it was detected. The Take Action button provides the options Remote Remediate, Remote Restore, and External Remediate. These allow the admin to take immediate action.

The Administration menu includes the submenus Users, Device Policies, Device Groups, Global lists, Audit logs and Reporting. Users lets you add, edit and remove console administrators, who can be assigned varying levels of access (Admin, Manager or Auditor). Under Device Policies you can assign preconfigured settings to individual devices or groups. You can manage the latter from the Device Groups page. Device Policies also lets you define whitelisted folders, i.e. ones you want to exclude from malware detection. You can further create whitelists of files and certificates, and file blacklists, under Global Lists. A list of admin logins and logouts can be found under Audit Logs. The Reporting page lets you create reports for specific groups or all devices. You can choose the time period covered by the report, and who will receive it.

On the Deployment page you can find installers for Window, macOS, and various different Linux distributions. The User Guide can also be found here. Finally, Support links to the support page on the vendor’s website.

Windows endpoint protection software

The endpoint protection client has a GUI that allows users to scan individual files and folders. The home page lists the most recent threats discovered, while a more comprehensive list can be seen on the Alerts page. The Settings page shows the current configuration options for the program. By default, these are deactivated for all users.

SparkCognition DeepArmor Endpoint Protection Platform

Malware is detected on execution, and is quarantined. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any action, and the alert closes after a few seconds.

SparkCognition DeepArmor Endpoint Protection Platform

The GUI of the server protection software is identical to that of its desktop counterpart.

VIPRE Endpoint Security Cloud

Verdict

This product impresses with clear design, simple operational processes and strong reporting features. Even a less-experienced user could deploy the agent and manage the network. The product shows what clear thinking and good deployment flow can bring. There is strong reporting and an obvious process for day-to-day operation.

About the product

VIPRE Endpoint Security Cloud uses a cloud-based console to manage Windows and macOS clients and Windows servers. VIPRE Endpoint Security is the client that runs on the desktop. VIPRE tell us that the cloud service runs on the Amazon AWS cloud, and that this brings efficiency, scalability and growth.

Getting up and running

Access to the web portal is straightforward via a standard username/password login combination (two-factor authentification is also available). The user interface immediately impresses with its clean and clear design. The first page you see has a Getting Started area. This covers deploying of agents, creation of users and the setting of appropriate policies. The next section deals with more advanced post-setup topics. These include Dashboard, Devices, Exclusions, Notifications and Reports. A link on the Getting Started page takes you to the Deploy Agents page of the console. From here you can download installers for the endpoint software, or use the email function to send links to users. We note that when a new version of the agent installer is made available, the page displays a note to that effect. You can either approve the new version for all devices, or try it out on a few test machines first.

Everyday management

Once you have deployed the endpoint software to your devices, the menus on the left-hand side come into play. From the top, the Monitor section covers Dashboard which is a straightforward view of the status of all the clients. It is obvious which ones need attention, what the device and threat count is, and the version numbering of the devices deployed.

Quarantine gives a strong overview of the quarantine actions over the past week. You can easily extend the reporting-time window using obvious choices such as “Last 24 hours”, “Last 3 days” and so forth. The reporting is clear and clean, showing what devices have had issues, and with which malware sources.

Reports lets you dig into the data in a more detailed fashion, for example by client, by malware, by action taken, by policy definition. All of these are clear and clean, but more designed to be used through the web console. You can set up notifications and reports to be sent through the System menu.

VIPRE Endpoint Security Cloud

The next section is Manage, which covers Devices (shown above). This displays which devices are in play, and their operational status. For any device or group, you can assign policy, run a scan, update the definitions, reboot the device, or delete the agent.

Policies lets you control how the clients are allowed to operate, and the security policies that they will deploy. There is a wide range of customisation here, but the Default Enterprise settings will probably be appropriate for most users. Here you can allow users to interact with the VIPRE client. For example, you can allow them to scan items via a right click, or force USB devices to be scanned on insertion.

Exclusions allows you to create exclusion lists of files, paths, folders and so forth that are excluded from scanning. This might, for example, include some shared space that is managed in a different way from normal storage.

Finally, the Setup area covers system settings and all the main defaults of the platform. Deploy Agents allows you to download an agent installer package, to create a policy installer, and to invite users via email. Profile lets you enable two-factor authentication.

The web console impresses both from the initial setup and deployment through to the ongoing management. The defaults are sensible, the screens clear and clean, and it is obvious what it is reporting and how healthy the clients are. It is simple to get clients to do centrally managed tasks, and the configuration of policy is easy too. Creating users is simple, and they can have the role of Admin or Analyst. The latter might be appropriate for, say, a help desk operative.

It is simple to create ongoing reports, and you don’t need to specify a mail server to send it through – this is provided for you.

We would say the platform is appropriate for any size of company, from a small business with a few seats, through to a much larger organisation. The UI of the management console was always responsive under testing. It is built to cope with thousands of desktops and large numbers of events.

Windows endpoint protection software

The Windows desktop protection software is very similar to a consumer antivirus program. By default, users can run scans and updates, and view quarantine. However, they cannot not change settings or restore quarantined items. Admins can give users increased or reduced functionality, by means of changing the applicable policy from the console.

VIPRE Endpoint Security Cloud

Malware is detected on file copy, and is quarantined. An example alert is shown below. The user cannot take any actions, other than to close the alert.

VIPRE Endpoint Security Cloud

The GUI of the server protection software is identical to that of its desktop counterpart.

Award levels reached in this Business Security Tests and Review

As in previous years, we are giving our “Approved Business Product” award to qualifying products. As we are now conducting two tests for business products per year, separate awards will be given to qualifying products in July (for March-June tests), and December (for August-November tests).

To be certified in December 2019 as an “Approved Business Product” by AV-Comparatives, the tested products must score at least 90% in the Malware Protection Test with zero false alarms on common business software, and at least 90% in the overall Real-World Protection Test (i.e. over the course of four months), with less than one hundred false alarms on any clean software/websites (and with zero false alarms on common business software). Tested products must also avoid major performance issues and have fixed all reported bugs in order to gain certification.

We congratulate the vendors shown below, whose products met the certification criteria, and are thus given the AV-Comparatives Approved Business Security Product Award for December 2019.

APPROVED
AvastAPPROVED
BitdefenderAPPROVED
CISCOAPPROVED
CrowdStrikeAPPROVED
EndgameAPPROVED
ESETAPPROVED
FireEyeAPPROVED
FortinetAPPROVED
K7APPROVED
KasperskyAPPROVED
McAfeeAPPROVED
MicrosoftAPPROVED
PandaAPPROVED
SeqriteAPPROVED
SophosAPPROVED
SparkCognitionAPPROVED
VIPREAPPROVED

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AV-Comparatives
(December 2019)