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Photos: CA’s eTrust ISS covers Internet threat spectrum

Computer Associates’ Internet Security Suite (ISS) collects four Internet security applications into a single, affordable suite. For approximately $40, small businesses receive the benefit of antivirus, antispam, antispyware and firewall programs.Boasting simple setup and effective protection, there’s a price to be paid when loading CA’s ISS. Plan on spending some time configuring its firewall application, and, as with many other Internet protection programs, expect slightly slower Web response times as the software works to protect systems from unwanted and potentially malicious e-mail and other infected programs.
By Cara Reynolds, Contributor
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Computer Associates’ Internet Security Suite (ISS) collects four Internet security applications into a single, affordable suite. For approximately $40, small businesses receive the benefit of antivirus, antispam, antispyware and firewall programs.

Boasting simple setup and effective protection, there’s a price to be paid when loading CA’s ISS. Plan on spending some time configuring its firewall application, and, as with many other Internet protection programs, expect slightly slower Web response times as the software works to protect systems from unwanted and potentially malicious e-mail and other infected programs.

CA's Internet ISS is available by download or in a retail box.
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The eTrust Internet Security Suite installation begins with a simple splash screen.

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Once you click Install eTrust Internet Security Suite, an InstallShield Wizard begins extracting files to your PC.

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To proceed, you must accept the licensing agreement by clicking I Agree.

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Upon downloading or purchasing a retail box of CA'ss eTrust ISS, you'll receive a registration key. You must enter that licensing key and click Next.

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Next, you must specify the location where you wish to install CA's eTrust security suite software. The default location is within a new CA\eTrust Internet Security Suite folder under Program Files.

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Should you wish to install only the eTrust antivirus and antispyware software, you could specify just those programs using the Select Products window. By default, all four eTrust programs are set to install.

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Once you click Install, the setup routine begins installing the software you selected using the hard disk location you specified.

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eTrust will announce that it needs to check for updates. Click Next to ensure the software’s updated properly upon deployment.

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One nice feature of the CA ISS package is it can check for signature updates while installing; gone are the days of installing five-month old and outdated antivirus signatures. CA ISS’ setup routine helps ensure the security software is current upon deployment.

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Once updates are downloaded, eTrust confirms the files are complete and requires that you apply the updates to proceed.

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The setup routine then proceeds to install the next program (assuming you selected more than one from the Select Products menu.

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The setup routine continues installing programs until it completes installing all the applications you selected.

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Once the applications have finished loading, you must restart your Windows system to complete the eTrust ISS installation.

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Upon subsequent boot ups, eTrust will display an active protection menu each time you start Windows. Should you wish, you can uncheck the Show At Startup box to hide this window.

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After restarting Windows, an eTrust Configuration Wizard appears if you’ve chosen to install the personal firewall. This wizard appears only once the first time after restarting following the software’s setup. Click Next, and the wizard walks users through using the suite’s software

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Three options are available for specifying access rights when using the eTrust Personal Firewall. The default setting is Automatic. You can also choose Manual, which alerts users to issues but allows them to make the final determination as to an action. An Off option exists, too, in which case the program won’t provide any recommendations.

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You can choose to enable Privacy Control and Cache Cleaner, which blocks pop-ups and cookies and keeps the system’s Internet cache free, respectively.

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After clicking Next, the firewall prepares to configure the changes. Click Done to close the wizard.

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Once you click Done, the eTrust Personal Firewall configures the settings you specified.

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Next, those installing the personal firewall will see screens describing the firewall’s use. The quick tutorials are particularly helpful. Many users and administrators will click quickly through these screens and likely experience difficulty accessing network resources as a result.

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First the software explains that the firewall settings need not be changes to enjoy enhanced security.

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Next the Getting Started process explains the four levels of defense the firewall utilizes to protect users and computers from threats.

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The tutorial explains warning messages users will see when the personal firewall software seeks guidance as to how to respond to specific actions.

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The tutorial adds that users must respond to these alert messages; to avoid having to repeatedly specify the same action, users can leverage use of the Remember This Setting checkbox on the alert messages.

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A More Info button is available to help users determine the appropriate action to take when a user is uncertain how to respond to an alert.

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The tutorial also explains that the firewall will alert users that it has blocked a specific action. Users wishing not to see the same blocked action alerts can eliminate them by clicking the Don’t Show This Dialog Again checkbox.

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The tutorial next explains the difference between Internet Zones, Trusted Zones and Blocked Zones. By default, all Internet systems are placed in the Internet Zone, where unsolicited contact is automatically blocked. Systems placed in the Trusted Zone will be permitted to access the system’s resources, while sites and computers placed in the Blocked Zone will not be permitted access to the system’s resources.

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The tutorial proceeds to describe how the Stop button places an abrupt and immediate stop to all network activity. The Internet Lock button, meanwhile, can be set to turn itself on when your PC is unattended.

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The eTrust Personal Firewall tutorial provides additional information about using the firewall application, including use of its index, glossary and help files.

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Upon connecting to the LAN for the first time, the personal firewall will locate the LAN and ask which zone it should be placed in. Typically you’ll wish to place the LAN in the Trusted Zone.

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Once you’ve specified how the LAN should be managed, you’ll see the default eTrust Personal Firewall control panel.

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Once the firewall software is installed, and an application attempts to access the Internet (such as IIS in this example), a warning message appears. Users can choose to either Allow or Deny the action. Users also receive the option of clicking the Remember This Setting checkbox (which eliminates the need to specify the same option repeatedly).

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CA’s antispyware program, PestPatrol, features a simplified control panel. Accessed by right-clicking its icon from the System Tray (or by selecting it from the Start menu), the interface is plain and straightforward, making it easy for even novice users to navigate.

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At any time you can right-click the eTrust software within Windows’ System Tray and alter active protection.

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By default, the eTrust antispyware and antivirus software are both set to update themselves automatically.

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Scheduling scans is simple within eTrust’s antispyware and antivirus programs. Here you can see the screen used to configure a daily antispyware scan.

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The eTrust antivirus interface is a little more elegant than the antispyware control panel, but it’s still fairly simple to use and operate.

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As with the eTrust PestPatrol antispyware software, EZAntiVirus is set to update itself automatically by default.

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Schedule regular scans by clicking the Schedule A Scan button found on the main eTrust EZ Antivirus screen. Upon clicking that button, you’ll see this menu, which is used to specify the scan’s start time and repeat interval.

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CA’s antispam agent integrates within Outlook to simplify e-mail management. Before you use it for the first time, the application reviews your Outlook folders to help determine legitimate e-mail you typically receive.

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Once you click Next, eTrust Anti-Spam configures itself for use.

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Once configured, eTrust Anti-Spam announced how many approved senders it found when reviewing your e-mail application. Click Finish to proceed.

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Once eTrust Anti-Spam completes setting up, you’ll see a few new additions in Outlook. Note the Approve and Block buttons CA places in the toolbar and the new eTrust Anti-Spam folder it creates within your mail folders. The program automatically directs e-mail it believes is spam to the new eTrust Anti-Spam folder.

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Should you need to make tweaks to the personal firewall, you can right-click it from within the Windows System Tray at any time and make changes as required.

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The eTrust Personal Firewall provides e-mail protection, as well as privacy protections and identity theft controls.

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At any time you can dig even deeper into any necessary firewall controls using the eTrust’s zone settings.

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