New $99 commercial edition offers ability to compare scan results; other upgrades apply to both freeware and commercial versions

London, UK, 27 February 2002 - GFI, a global provider of email and network security tools, today announced the release of LANguard Network Scanner 2.0, a commercial and freeware* tool for conducting security audits on Windows-based networks. The $99 commercial edition offers an exclusive new feature permitting administrators to compare consecutive scan results for instant identification of new security holes. Both versions also have a variety of other upgrades, including the ability to detect known network vulnerabilities in areas such as HTTP, FTP and SMTP services.

LANguard Network Scanner intelligently scans the entire network for weak points and supplies complete NETBIOS information for each machine, including a list of shares. It detects and alerts administrators to open ports, unnecessary shares, registries that need to be closed down, and other points of vulnerability. It also performs OS detection and password strength testing. In contrast, competitive products typically operate by using a database of known security holes that is outdated every time a new OS version is released or a new hacking method is identified. LANguard's comprehensive approach ensures a fuller and more up-to-date picture of potential trouble spots for proactive prevention of security breaches.

New scan comparison and network vulnerability identification
The new scan comparison capability in Version 2.0, exclusive to the commercial version, enables network administrators to compare the results of two different scans to quickly identify network changes such as newly installed services, newly added users or newly added ports. Each comparison result screen clearly lists all differences between the scans, instantly alerting administrators to any suspicious alterations in the network.

Also new in Version 2.0 is the ability to spot and red-flag network vulnerabilities such as backdoor users and rogue services; Windows misconfigurations; and trouble spots in HTTP, FTP and SMTP services ranging from FTP configuration problems and easy-to-guess passwords to the IIS/PWS Unicode directory traversal vulnerability exploited by the Nimda worm. This enhances administrators' ability to pinpoint and plug security loopholes.

Other new features include:

• OS detection using port banners (FTP, HTTP, SMTP), identd daemon and SNMP Object ID where available, in addition to OS detection using SMB queries available in Version 1.0
• Server enumeration, providing an inventory of all Windows computers on the network
• CGI probing to check for common vulnerabilities on Web servers
• SNMP audits to test password strength using a dictionary of commonly used passwords, expanding on Version 1.0's SNMP device detection and SNMP Walk for inspecting network devices such as routers and printers
• Enhanced scanning of large networks by sending miscellaneous ICMP messages (echo, timestamp and information requests) as well as UDP query status to every IP address
• Report output in both HTML and XML

Pricing, specifications and availability
The commercial version of LANguard Network Scanner retails for $99 and is available exclusively through the GFI website. Technical support is not included in the price. The freeware version for non-commercial use can also be downloaded from the site*. Both products run on Windows NT, 2000, XP, ME and 9x, with Windows NT, 2000 or XP recommended. For more product information, visit http://www.gfi.com/languard/lanscan.htm.

* Freeware version is no longer available