Panda Security for Business is a software-based solution which offers endpoint security protection for desktops and servers. The solution is packaged as a centralized console, which manages configuration and deployment of client agents. The centralized console can be installed on virtually any Windows-based host, while the client agents can be deployed to protect a wide range of host operating systems, including Linux, Mac, Windows and mobile devices.
Installation of the administrative console was simple. The interface itself is fairly easy to navigate and all the agents are managed using policy inheritance via nested folders. This is an easy way to visualize the different groups and policy requirements within an organization.
Deployment of the agent was also easy, although it requires two steps: a communications agent and then the actual client agent itself. Both of these appear as separate system tray icons on the client machine. There are also lots of administrative features - such as reporting, notifications and others - although we would have preferred if the administrative console was web-based instead of a locally installed management application. This may not be much of a hassle for some organizations.
The endpoint protection features are abundant. The solution provides malware protection, a client firewall, application control, host-based IPS, removable media protection and integration with Cisco NAC. Panda also helps protect its customers with an additional protection mechanism called Malware Radar, an on-demand auditing service for an added layer of proactive protection. While it is included with the product, it's a separate agent install.
Although the added protection would be nice, it may not be worth having to manage two separate agents in most environments. During our testing, we encountered an intrusion detection alert. This turned out to be a false positive. The prompt wasn't very informative, so it took some time and effort to determine the cause and find what policy item we needed to deactivate.
Documentation for the product is superb. The help files include examples of many different subject areas and how users might manage the product.
Basic, no-cost, eight-hours-a-day/five-days-a-week support is included and is offered via phone and email. No additional support packages are offered. The Panda Security website includes a support section, FAQ and knowledge base.
