Item: Sophos NAC Advanced (discontinued)
Rating: 8
Author: Michael Timms

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Sophos Network Access Control was part of the Sophos security suite that my company used before we were forced to go to another solution. Sophos NAC was used by the entire enterprise as enforcement of security policies. I can say that it was very effective in preventing viruses on our network. The only issue that I ever encountered with Sophos NAC was when trying to remove it.

Pros and Cons

Provides enforcement of security policies for Windows PCs
As part of the Sophos Security Suite provides outstanding protection from viruses
Uses a very nice web-based GUI

Customer support was basically non-existent during the time we needed it the most. This should be #1 priority for any company.
Lack of support for Linux servers and Mac OS
The reporting system relies on information provided by the agents
Wide scale removal process needs some vast improvements. When using a batch removal script, it wrecks the NIC drivers to the point that they have to be removed and reinstalled.

Return on Investment

Positive -- We were able to control guest users access
Positive -- Using the entire Sophos Security Suite I only remember one major virus while I was with the company which saves on downtime, and IT man hours
Negative -- The time we spent removing this, and reinstalling NIC drivers because the removal process crashed them cost the company in IT man hours.

Alternatives Considered

I have used Mcafee Antivirus Suite, Trend Micro, and Vipre Antivirus. I actually had more experience with Vipre than anything else so that is the one that I will be comparing it too. From what I remember, Vipre was more expensive but had better customer support. Other than that, they both do pretty much thing as well as what all the others do. I personally do not believe that any enterprise level antivirus solution is better than any other, it boils down to which one can your company afford, and which one fits best with your needs.

Other Software Used

Lansweeper, VMware ThinApp, Oracle VM VirtualBox, DameWare Remote Support, Spiceworks, VMware Fusion, VMware vSphere Data Protection Advanced, VMware Workstation, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Office 365

Likelihood to Recommend

Sophos Network Access Control would be most effective in an enterprise environment where there are many different groups of users, including guest users because it has the ability to block unauthorized users and control the access of guest users. It would not be well suited for an environment with less than 1000 users because as far as I know, the license requires at least that many users.

Sophos Network Access Control is an excellent policy based security solution

Overall Satisfaction with Sophos Network Access Control