PCVET.RVW 950808
Comparison Review
Company and product:
Company: Cybec
Address: PO Box 205, Suite 3, 350 Hampton Street, Hampton, Victoria 3188,
Australia
Phone: +61 3 9521 0655, +44-6-0683-6780, +353-5-138-3650, +605-281-2757,
+649-378-9790
Fax: +61 3 9521 0727
Contact: Nichols Engleman, Roger Riordan
Email: support@cybec.com.au, sales@cybec.com.au
Product: VET antiviral 8.2
Summary: Scanner, two option resident scanner, activity monitor, disinfector,
change detector and utilities.
Cost A$90.00 for 1 year license, updates posted quarterly
Rating (1-4, 1 = poor, 4 = very good)
"Friendliness"
Installation 3
Ease of use 3
Help systems 2
Compatibility 3
Company
Stability 3
Support 3
Documentation 3
Hardware required 4
Performance 3
Availability 2
Local Support 2
General Description:
VET is a fairly standard scanner/disinfector with a strong emphasis on boot
sector infectors. VET_RES is a resident scanning system with various options.
Utilities included are VCRC, for change detection; HUNT, a "baiting" change
detector, and VET_TRAP which saves MBR, boot sector and "top of memory" data
for evaluation of suspect new virus. A Windows interface is available, and a
NetWare NLM is in final test and should be available when this review sees
print.
Comparison of features and specifications
User Friendliness
Installation
The program is shipped on a writeable but protected 720K diskette, with another
for the Windows interface. The installation program is very well prompted, and
explains the choices the user has to make. Two or three sentences of rationale
are given as the user cycles through the options presented. Standard
installation, while somewhat more complicated than some other products, is
quite reasonable, and should give the novice no problem. (Ironically, a
possible exception is the installation of the Windows interface. The interface
uses the VET program, but is separate from it. Installation of VET adds to the
PATH command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, but if the Windows interface is
installed immediately following, without an intermediate reboot, VETWIN won't
be able to find VET.) Custom installation, however, should only be attempted
by intermediate or advanced users, and that only after all of chapter one has
been read. The manual is somewhat technical, but computer support personnel
should feel right at home. (Given VET's origin in college computer labs, this
orientation is quite reasonable.)
Having said that, technical support staff will find a number of helpful
functions for customizing installation, and for aiding installation in sites
with many PCs. Both "Master" and "Network" options assist in initiating the
program on mulitple PCs in a corporate environment.
The installation process is very "careful" and should ensure that no virus
contaminates the program.
Installation is possible on systems with no hard drive, but some of the
installation functions, such as modification of AUTOEXEC.BAT, are not
performed.
Ease of use
Most of the VET programs are command line, rather than menu, driven, but the
default usage should be easy enough for most novice users. Users are told very
plainly about problems, as well as possible, and recommended, courses of
action. Novice users will find that standard usage gives them a fairly solid
measure of protection. The only important part of the package that is
difficult to use is the change detection component. Intermediate and expert
users will find various options which can increase the level of security, or
avoid conflicts in specialized environments.
Help systems
A list of command line options can be obtained with the "?" switch.
Compatibility
No problems were found in testing. A Windows interface for the VET program is
available. The VET_RES programs will sound an audible alarm running under
Windows, but will not display the warning screen. Suggestions are made to
allow co-existance with various networks.
Company Stability
Cybec has a significant presence on VIRUS-L, as well as other research groups.
It is now to be considered among the top international virus research
companies.
Company Support
The usual. In addition, Cybec is fairly active on VIRUS-L/comp.virus, and is
reachable through the Internet. The product is updated quarterly for those
with a valid license. Updated documentation on disk makes this look almost
like a shareware package. A newsletter called "Cyclops", available to
customers, is not as detailed as the "F-PROT Bulletin", but is a lot funnier.
Documentation
The documentation is now excellent in terms of program operation. The removal
of the primer material and the humour is disappointing. Introductory level
explanations are, however, inegrated throughout.
System Requirements
No special hardware is needed. The program will work with MS-DOS 2.x or
higher, and can be run from a floppy disk if needed.
Performance
There is a very strong emphasis on boot sector protection in the package, not
surprising, in that it started life as a defence against Stoned and produced
the "Man who named Michelangelo". Data bases, detectors and recovery tools are
included for analysis of the boot sector and master book record. VET_RES
checks the boot sector every time it monitors a change in a floppy disk in the
drive, and checks for a disk in the drive when <Ctrl><Alt><Del> is pressed.
Scanning is among the fastest reviewed, and ranks with Thunderbyte and
Virex-PC.
Unfortunately, the program has not been included in many of the most widely
distributed independent scanner trials. My own tests do not indicate any
shortcomings in the scanning coverage of the program.
Local Support
The company is reachable via the Internet.
Support Requirements
VET is suitable for all user levels, but is particularly recommended for
supported sites.
General Notes
An improvement in the change detection component would contribute to the full
multi-layered defence. VET is, however, a significant package, and well worth
serious consideration, particularly in large environments.
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993, 1995 PCVET.RVW 950808
======================
ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 RSlade@cyberstore.ca
"Internet, the information network you _can't_ outgrow." - Ido Dubrawsky
Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540-94311-0