SurfControl Combats Malware

Until recently, employee policy abuse focused exclusively on Web surfing habits—in other words, keeping employees from intentionally or accidentally visiting Web sites whose content is in violation of company policies. But intellectual-property concerns and legislative requirements have expanded the scope of employee abuse, and content-filtering solutions such as SurfControl also include tools to monitor e-mail, instant messaging and other content-delivery technologies.

Both incoming and outgoing e-mail pose a threat to any organization, whether it takes the form of outright industrial espionage or time wasted on non-work-related communication. E-mail is also the delivery method of choice for spyware and malware. SurfControl's latest product, SurfControl E-Mail Filter for SMTP version 5.0, acts as a guardian at the SMTP level, scanning and filtering incoming and outgoing mail for policy violations or other problems.

Installation of the product is straightforward, since installation wizards speed the initial configuration tasks. The product is designed for businesses with fewer than 1,000 users, which also reduces the amount of hardware needed. SurfControl E-Mail Filter runs on a Windows 2000/2003 server and a recommended minimum of a Pentium III processor with 512 Mbytes of RAM. For data storage, either Microsoft SQL Server or the Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) is required.

Although the filtering setup can be complex, SurfControl does a good job of simplifying the many options and rules. Configuration screens offer ample help and all features are clearly labeled. The product combines several technologies to create an effective filtering environment. An antispam agent filters unsolicited e-mail, while a URL filter blocks e-mail-embedded links to inappropriate Web sites.

SurfControl uses a Virtual Learning Agent to identify possible policy violations and to reduce false positives, while still protecting against new threats. A Virtual Image Agent identifies and blocks inappropriate images, while an antivirus agent filters out malware. When all these features are enabled and a full set of filtering rules are applied, the product does have a negative impact on the speed of e-mail transport. But it's definitely worth it when weighed against the threat of unwanted or dangerous e-mail, which can spread viruses or worms and sap productivity.

The product demonstrates incredible flexibility, allowing administrators to combine rules and actions as needed to create a completely customized filtering solution. The product's reporting and auditing capabilities can help solution providers demonstrate the solution's efficiency and quell customers' ROI concerns. What's more, the reporting capabilities are a powerful ally for investigating policy violations, especially with regard to legislative requirements such as HIPAA or Sarbanes-Oxley. Creating reports and charts is a breeze using either the canned reports included with the product or customized reporting capabilities.

SurfControl's three-tier partner program includes Security, Gold and Platinum levels. Partners must pass certification exams to qualify for benefits. Marketing support, pre- and post-sales support and technical support are offered, as well as product discounts and sales and marketing collateral. SurfControl is priced at $19 per user based on an installation of 500 users. The antivirus and URL filter are both optional add-ons and cost extra. SurfControl did not disclose average reseller margins.