Redmond Readers Pick Their Fave Tools of 2007

You voted and the results are in: Find out which products you've chosen as the cream of the crop.

By Lafe Low / SECURITY WATCH

FIREWALL: HARDWARE-BASED
The Cisco Systems PIX series has proved it can consistently evolve and continues to win in this market. It wins here with a 38.8 percent vote. Ease of use, ease of integration and its position as the de facto industry standard were all frequently cited as reasons for choosing Cisco. "Cisco has been in the game a long time and knows what to do when protection is needed," says Bud Moore of the Tracer Corp.
SonicWALL's TZ and Pro series firewalls brought in a 10 percent vote, while Symantec's Velociraptor earned 7.7 percent.

FIREWALL: SOFTWARE-BASED
Microsoft's ISA Server is the clear winner with 22.2 percent of the votes. After ISA Server's dominance as a software firewall, Check Point and Symantec are in a fairly close matchup, earning 15.8 and 14.5 percent, respectively. Check Point, emerging as the ISV Winner, wins points for being easy to remotely manage, says Ralph Hoefelmeyer. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus brought in 8.3 percent.

INTRUSION DETECTION SYSTEM
Cisco Systems' Cisco Secure IDS is a decisive winner with 20.9 percent of the votes. Open source alternative Snort brought in a 13.1 percent vote. BlackICE Pro, from Network ICE, earned 6.8 percent.

INTRUSION PREVENTION SYSTEM
Cisco Systems also takes the IPS category with its Cisco Security Agent bringing in a 15.4 percent vote. Network Associates IntruShield is up next with 7.3 percent. The next spot is a tie between Symantec ManHunt and Internet Security Systems, each earning a 5.1 percent vote.

SMART CARD/BIOMETRIC/TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION SYSTEM
RSA ran away with the votes for Best Smart Card Authentication System with its SecureID earning 35.3 percent. It helps that they've been around for such a long time and have refined the product and developed a solid reputation. "They're a trusted vendor and it's a workable product that limits false positives and false negatives," says independent consultant Chris Apgar. DigitalPersona brought in 3.5 percent and the next place was a 3.2 percent tie between ActivCard Trinity and Griffin Technologies SecuriKey Pro.

SECURE MESSAGING TOOL OR SERVICE (SPAM AND CONTENT FILTERING)
Microsoft Exchange Server takes this category with a 17.6 percent vote. The ISV Winner is Symantec with a 7.8 percent vote. Microsoft Defender (now Forefront) earned 4.7 percent and Barracuda Networks' Spam Firewall brought in 3.8 percent.

ANTI-VIRUS
Symantec also took a commanding lead in the anti-virus category, thanks to its Anti-Virus tool, which earned 33.8 percent of the vote. "It catches virtually all viruses in real-time and requires very little maintenance," says Dan Roach, IT manager with Dunn Engineering Associates. McAfee's GroupShield took 14.9 percent and Trend Micro 11.4 percent.

ANTI-SPYWARE
McAfee takes top honors here with 15.1 percent of the votes, with Trend Micro Anti-Spyware trailing closely behind with a 12.1 share. Webroot places again with a 9.7 percent vote.
* Excerpted from "Star Power: Redmond Best of the Best Readers' Choice Awards 2007," in the April 2007 issue.