Symantec vs. ZyXEL

[ignotiev]

I'm trying to make a decision for my organization as to what kind of firewall/internet security solution to use. We're setting up a computer lab with 10 new machines.

The two options that I'm looking at are Symantec Endpoint Protection
and the ZyXEL ZyWALL 2WG 3G Mobile Router and Firewall. I've looked into the pros and cons of each, but not being a network security expert, I've had a lot of trouble weighing the pros and cons of each.

I was wondering if anyone can advise me on what product to choose and why.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

never heard of ZyXEL.. which companies use it?

 

[seepy83]

These two products perform totally different functions and, honestly, can't be compaired.

Symantec Endpoint Protection is a host-based Antivirus/Antispyware/Firewall (and more, if you enable the features) solution.

Although I know very little about it, the ZyXEL Mobile Router and Firewall appears to be a Router/Firewall that uses a Mobile Broadband connection for its WAN link. This would perform some network perimeter firewall fuctions for your network.

Let's take the Symantec and ZyXEL brand names out of the picture for a minute - the fact is that you should have some type of host-based protection (including A/V, A/S, Firewall, etc) and a Firewall at the network perimeter.

edit: hopefully I read your original post correctly and you're asking us to compare the two products.

Also, is a Mobile Broadband router an absolute requirement for this computer lab? Depending on the coverage in your area, that internet conenction is probably going to feel like a 56k line when 10 PCs are trying to access it.

 

[ignotiev]

Oops, I should have explained myself better.

If I go with Symantec's endpoint protection, I would use a basic router/firewall, something like this.

However, if I used the ZyXEL, I would get Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2009. If I'm not mistaken, this wouldn't give me a firewall on each host (though to be honest, I thought having a firewall behind the network firewall was redundant. Am I wrong?).

Basically, the comparison comes down to which one is the better fire wall solution.

 

[seepy83]

Originally posted by: ignotiev
I thought having a firewall behind the network firewall was redundant. Am I wrong?

If one of the PCs on your LAN gets compromised, then a firewall on each host will add another layer of protection that will help prevent access to other computer on the LAN.

You should do some reading on Defense In Depth in order to get a better idea of the strategies that most Network Security professionals will recommend. Once you understand those concepts, make some decisions about how much protection your Computer Lab requires (if needed, you might need to get help with performing a risk assessment). Because I don't know what critical or confidential data (if any) might be contained on those PCs, it is hard to make any solid recommendations for what you should implement. Even if there is no critical or confidential data on those PCs, you should consider how much it will cost the company if 1 or all of those computers are out of service due to a security incident.

 

[ignotiev]

Hey, thanks for the tip about Defense In Depth, it gave me some insight into network security. I've decided to go with the ZyXEL with a Symantec product that has antivirus and a firewall.