Tool detects filched files
FutureSoft's iScan data monitoring tool can help firms monitor and enforce email policies, protect intellectual property and ensure copyright compliance
FutureSoft, a specialist in tools for managing intellectual property, is expected to upgrade its iScan data monitoring tool later this month.
Companies use the tool to monitor and enforce acceptable-use policies, either to protect their own intellectual property, or to ensure that their networked computers do not store intellectual property belonging to third parties without the owner's permission.
Andy Wooles, FutureSoft managing director, said the obvious role for iScan is probably to ensure that MP3 files of copyright music are not stored on corporate computer systems without authorisation. Some firms use iScan to prevent their own intellectual property from being leaked to other organisations, he added. The underlying technology identifies files based on checksums calculated using the contents of the files.
Wooles said the new version adds important capabilities to help firms enforce policies. A new feature enables file systems on individual computers or storage systems to be scanned in either an ad hoc or scheduled manner.
Wooles said this might be used occasionally to perform a software audit to ensure compliance with software licensing requirements, or to detect the presence of inappropriate software on users' PCs.
In addition, a new real-time monitor can be configured to watch particular computers so that a response can be triggered as soon as a policy violation is detected. Wooles said this would most often be used to monitor choke points, such as file servers, and could be configured to prevent specific files or types of files from being used by some or all users. "The module can be installed on a server, and rules can be remotely loaded into the module to define what types of content to monitor for, what files you want to block, and which programs are running," he explained.
The product is configured from a central management console, and is priced according to the number of devices that are scanned. It costs £1,800 + VAT to monitor 100 devices. A 15-day trial version of the new iScan software will be available for download from the FutureSoft web site within the next two weeks.