Bit9 Parity Suite

The Bit9 Parity Suite 6 is an endpoint protection solution comprised of a client/server architecture that provides application whitelisting, device control, file integrity monitoring, registry protection and system protection - all within a single agent. The solution is typically installed on Windows computers and the backend is installed on Windows 2003. The solution also uses Bit9's cloud services for reputation scoring and access to its repository of known hashes for integrity monitoring.

The solution is easy to install. We were up and running within minutes. The Bit9 server console is web-based and fairly easy to navigate. The solution itself is an interesting approach to endpoint protection. Although it does not contain any anti-virus client to detect malware, it uses cloud-based reputation scoring to help determine if files and applications are known to be good or if they have been scored as malware by the community. The heart of the protection and features lies within Bit9's database of known hashes and reputation scores (compiled from various sources), which is then compared to what is installed on local client machines.

Reputation scoring includes a specific weighting, which indicates whether the files in question have passed anti-virus checks from at least six vendors. In addition to these features, the solution also performs integrity monitoring and device access control. Security and permissions are granted through various levels of protection, known as SecCon. These levels are based on whether the agent will monitor, block and ask, lock down completely or employ other throttling techniques based on roles or groups of users. Overall, the solution was easy to use and integrates nicely with Active Directory.

Documentation is solid and can be accessed directly from the web-based administrative interface. Standard eight-hours-a-day/five-days-a-week phone, web and email support is available at 20 percent of the product cost, and premium 24/7 support is available at 25 percent.