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Secure Content Appliance (SCA) Certification As part of its extensive SCA test methodology, The NSS Group subjects each product to a brutal battery of tests that verify the stability and performance of each device tested, determine the accuracy of its security coverage, and ensure that the device will not block legitimate traffic. If a particular SCA has been designated as NSS Approved, customers can be confident that the device will not significantly impact network performance (up to the bandwidth as rated by NSS), cause network crashes, or otherwise block legitimate traffic. To assess the complex matrix of SCA performance and security requirements, The NSS Group has developed a specialised lab environment that is able to exercise every facet of a SCA product. The test suite contains over 1600 individual tests that evaluate the performance, reliability, security effectiveness, and usability of SCA products, providing the most thorough and complete evaluation of SCA products available anywhere today. The testing covers the four main security modules typically included in SCA products: Anti Virus, Anti Spam, URL Filtering, and Content Filtering. It is important for readers to recognise, however, that NSS would normally spend a significant amount of time on testing a single Anti Spam, Anti Virus or URL/Content Filtering product. Given that the same amount of time will be allocated to test each SCA product as would normally be spent on a dedicated device, it is clearly impractical to test each module of a SCA device to the same extent as the equivalent dedicated device. Where vendors wish to prove that a particular module performs in a specific way, it is possible to submit a SCA device for an additional security-specific test - NSS has already developed full test suites for all of the four security engines listed above. Readers should therefore not rely on NSS approval of a SCA device to decide whether that device can operate as a dedicated, single-function security device (such as Anti Virus or Anti Spam alone). If a reader is particularly interested in a SCA device as an Anti Virus gateway, for example, they should look for a product with NSS Approved certification for both SCA and the specific technology in which he/she is interested. It is worth pointing out that standards are very high, and not every product submitted for testing receives an NSS Approved award. The NSS Group SCA test methodologies have become the de facto standard for testing in-line SCA devices, and the NSS Approved logo is now an essential item on the list of requirements when purchasing these products. Click here to download the complete UTM testing procedure in PDF format Click here to see details of the latest round of test results - a complete list of currently certified products |
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