VirusScan slims down for remote workers

Network Associates Inc.'s McAfee division is preparing to launch a lightweight

version of its desktop antivirus software designed for workers who access

networks via dialup modems.

Called VirusScan TC (for thin client), the software is scheduled to

become available Oct. 16 and will be announced at the Networld+Interop (N+I)

networking trade show, which kicks off Sept. 25 in Atlanta, said Ryan McGee,

a product marketing manager for McAfee.

The program is about 3M, or one-fifth the size of McAfee's standard

VirusScan desktop product, which should make it less of a headache for remote

workers to download over a phone line.

"We basically went through the code and stripped away all the bells

and whistles that some customers had told us they considered redundant or

unnecessary," McGee said.

The software also does away with the end-user interface. Besides helping

to reduce the size of the program, this also stops workers from reconfiguring

or disabling their antivirus software, which can cause extra work for IT

departments, McGee said.

The software will appeal most to organizations using Version 4.03 of

McAfee's software or earlier, he said. That's because older versions of

McAfee's product require users to download the entire directory of virus

definitions each time a new virus emerges, which can take forever over a

dial-up connection.

VirusScan TC also includes a reporting capability that helps IS managers

track information such as how many viruses have hit their network in the

past year and where a particular virus originated, McGee said.

McAfee VirusScan TC will be priced at $49 per year for 25 clients or

less, or $28 per year for 26 clients to 500 clients, McAfee officials said.