StormShield Security Suite offers integrated system and data protection in a single product - integrating the following security services: device control, data encryption, application control, host-based intrusion prevention (HIPS), anti-malware, system firewall, wireless security and network access control. While the signature-based technology supplements protection information, StormShield uses behavioral-based protection, providing zero-day attack protection without the need for constant signature or rule updates. The offering has a small footprint, which uses only a few megabytes of memory with all services installed and running.
Similar to other products in this category, StormSheild uses a multi-tiered architecture, which consists of a deployment server, a management console and an agent. The offering only works with Windows 2000 SP4 and newer Microsoft operating systems. As with most products in this group review, multiple agents can be managed via SSL by the StormShield Server in a many:1 ratio. Thousands of agents can be managed by one StormShield Server, with a 5,000:1 set as the preferred ratio, according to the documentation. The installation of the StormShield product was very straightforward and required no need for the documentation. Along with the servers, software for both the MSDE and .Net were installed. No special hardware was necessary and the system ran just fine on a Windows 2003 Server.
The documentation was a bit lacking. All that was included with the software was a quick install guide.
Skyrecon offers both eight hours a day/five days a week and 7/24 support. Standard support is included in the StormShield maintenance pricing at a rate of 18 percent. Support levels one and two are delivered to the end-user through the solution provider. Level three support is provided by SkyRecon to the solution provider and then delivered to the end-user by the solution provider. Duration of the support is determined by the terms of the product license purchased.
The StormShield offering has a price range of $37.50 to $129.40. This puts the StormShield offering in the very upper price range for devices tested.
