Must have if you have Symantec Proxy Server
January 28, 2022

Must have if you have Symantec Proxy Server

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Symantec Content & Malware Analysis

We are one of the first users of Symantec Content and Malware Analysis in the region. We've been using the solution since the Bluecoat. This service/product line in fact was a two product Content Analysis (CAS) and Malware Analysis (MAS). Than it has been merged in a single service. It's the part of Bluecoat/Symantec services ecosystem. Main usage is the integration with the proxy servers. I have made several deployments in multiple regions. It works
smoothly with proxy servers. It's communicating through the ICAP. High availability and redundancy is set through proxy settings by selecting multiple ICAP servers tab. I don't like to use the load balancer for HA in the setup as the load balancers have negative performance effect on file transmission. File types and conditions are set on the proxy servers than CAS makes the static and heuristics analysis. MAS is used sandboxing and APT. It's very effective in finding out the 0 days and prevents the malwares. Central management is done through the CMS in which enforces the common security standards throughout the organizations. It has a built-in url detection engine using the same service with the bluecoat family. Symantec URL categorization service is marvelous. Using the Symantec Endpoint on the clients completes the ecosystem with full TX sharing.
  • 0 day detection and prevenion
  • Flawless integration with Symantec Ecosystem
  • Integration with other vendors supporting ICAP is also working
  • Custom and golden image support
  • High performance on busy environments
  • Many threats are already detected and prevented through the CAS, it improves the performance drastically.
  • Already builtin virustotal integration
  • Reference to updates and updates information where I can see the product/service detecting which APTs
  • Multiple Antivirus engines which you can select/subscribe
  • Manual submission of file is supported through the gui
  • URL manual submission is also supported
  • API support is lacking
  • Symantec/Broadcom security vision in general
  • Symantec support is not perfect
  • You can't run the product as a standalone network device
  • No packet capture capabiliy or work in span mode
  • You need a dedicated hardware to make it run
  • You need to buy
  • Flawless Integration with Bluecoat -Symantec proxy servers
  • Additional and flexible choice of different antivrus providers, like we have Mcafee at the front, than Karpersky and than the Sophos on CAS for static analysis.
  • Manual submission support for sandboxing. I don't need to pay for additional solution just for manual submission.
  • Already integrated with Bluecoat webpulse environment for analysis
  • Ability to customize and select the sandbox images
  • 0-day and APT risk is covered by the SCMA
  • As the SSL is inspected and analyzed at Bluecoat proxy servers, hidden threats, malicous files are passed to SCMA to be analyzed.
  • Getting full visibility at file trajectory level
  • As it's a full proxy and ICAP integration, we are sure that the files are to analyzed and scanned for malicious activity. This is a big plus compared to NGFW analyze concept, as the NGFWs have special failsafe mechanisms allowing bypass of file analysis. SCMA fully catches the hidden threats.
  • Flawless integration with Bluecoat systems is a big plus, customers are getting the same type of messages within their browsers.
  • A negative impact is the standardization when I deploy SCAM to one of our locations. Then the auditors demand the same coverage within other areas and it comes with the cost. Especially maintaining these devices on premise environment has a significant cost.
We have been using many solutions even tested nearly all available 0day sandbox solutions in the market. We choose Symantec CMA as we have already Symantec endpoint protection/EDR on the client, Symantec proxy for the web access, SCMA fits our environment. We have a big bargain when we puchase lots of equipment from the Symantec. Detection and prevention is very good at SCMA but some constant issues; like the product is not designed for heterogeneous environments, we can not integrate the SCMA with WAFs, it's lacking in api and request/reply calls. There's no file scanning, discover the option. SIEM integration is not smooth. I can not run some of the SOAR playbooks through the SCMA.

Do you think Symantec Content & Malware Analysis delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Symantec Content & Malware Analysis's feature set?

Yes

Did Symantec Content & Malware Analysis live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Symantec Content & Malware Analysis go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Symantec Content & Malware Analysis again?

Yes

If you have Symantec based environment including Symantec proxy and endpoints, Content and Malware Analysis is the obvious choice. You can't run the CAS-MAS as a standalone deployment, you need proxies or ICAP supported devices capable to send the files/URLS. It's not a network security device where you can flow/direct the traffic to C/MAS. It does not have UBA, NBA or NTR features, it is just working for analyzing files as expected.