Victoria Laney
NETWORLD+INTEROP, Atlanta, September 9
Virus attacks have doubled in 1997, and each occurrence costs an average of $8,366. Intel is on a crusade to stop the attacks.
Its new Intel LANDESK Virus Protect offers 'rock solid' virus detection, said Lee Cormier, product manager. This is a 'rearchitected' version of Intel code licensed for use in Novell MangageWise, and other leading server protection products.
The software can be automatically updated, which is important in enterprises that have thousands of PCs. Virus software must be updated two or three times a month as new threats appear. LANDesk can save thousands of dollars by avoiding the cost of manual updating. It also saves employee work time by scanning continually. There is no waiting for periodic or start-up virus scanning. An 'integrity shield' places a barrier around key files to prevent modification or deletion. Virus protection can be 'locked down' so it can?t be disabled at desktop computers, he said.
Virus attacks have increased because saboteurs have focused on Microsoft Word, which is the most popular word processor today. They have analyzed it to find the security holes, and exploit them. E-mail is the most common method of virus transmission today, he said.
LANDesk Virus Protect should be implemented as part of an anti-virus policy which defines procedures and responsibilities that will reduce the risk of a computer virus attack. A good anti-virus policy identifies what computer systems could be affected, including personal computers, workstations, or Internet gateways. Responsibility for anti-virus procedures should be assigned to specific individuals. Typical procedures can include changing most vulnerable files to 'read only' files to discourage infiltration,
There should be regular audits, to verify that security procedures are followed. A 'virus response team' should meet at least once a month to evaluate past attacks and guard against future ones, Cormier said.
More information is available on http://www.intel.com/network, or 1-800-538-3373 in the US and Canada.