BigFix AntiThreat is a module of the powerful BigFix platform. The platform can manage a multitude of areas in the environment, such as policy reinforcement and software management. The AntiThreat piece of the pie deals with managing viruses and spyware. This product provides pre-emptive defence against malicious viruses, worms, Trojans and spyware attacks by using a centralised management console and deploying agents onto all machines in the environment.
While this product is extremely powerful, we found it very difficult to use. Installation is fairly easy as it is guided by a series of helpful wizards and agent deployment can be used via Active Directory. However, the console itself is cluttered and awkward. The console contained so much granularity that it was a bit overwhelming to navigate. While we realise that granularity adds to the power of the product, we had a lot of trouble finding our way around the console initially and understanding exactly how to make the product work best for our environment.
But we cannot deny the amazing amount of flexibility provided by AntiThreat and the BixFix platform as a whole. This product integrates lots of features, both in malware management and in many other areas of network security. This solution provides one central place to find real-time information on the entire environment and solve or remedy almost any security risk.
Several PDF manuals make up the documentation for this product. All documentation is available via the vendor website and can be accessed by going to the support area. The PDF files include an administrators' guide, console operators' manual, web reports guide and an upload manager guide. The administrators' guide illustrates architecture, deployment and installation in great detail. The console operators' guide highlights all the features and how to use the console.
BigFix AntiThreat comes with standard support, as well as providing a very good support area on the vendor website.
With prices starting at £6 per device per year, the cost of this product may appear a little steep. However, the BigFix platform offers a lot of functionality and flexibility, and we find this product to be a good value. It provides almost total security management within a single product.