Steganos Security Suite 7.0 review

Barry Brenesal CNET

Published: 02 Nov 2004

If you're concerned about data security -- that is, if you want to make sure that only you can read specific files located on your hard drive -- you need Steganos Security Suite 7.0 (you can download a trial version here). Unlike ZoneAlarm Security Suite, Steganos does not include an antivirus package, a firewall, an ad-blocking tool, cookie control, Web-activity monitoring, Instant Messaging encryption or a rudimentary spam filter. Rather, Steganos Security Suite focuses on securing the data on your hard drive and wiping out that data once you're finished with it. If you handle home or small-business finances, or if you develop intellectual property worth stealing, then you need Steganos in addition to a standard Internet security suite. Changes from version 5.0, the last version we reviewed, are significant, so current users should upgrade.

Setup & interface

Installation of Steganos Security Suite 7.0 is painless, and takes only a few minutes. After a reboot, the program loads three modules into your system tray for easy access: the suite itself, Steganos Safe and the Steganos Password Manager. All three can be removed permanently via settings options if you don't want the extra clutter, although you may want to keep the suite's system icon. Right-clicking the system tray icon loads any one of the program's seven modules (Safe, Portable Safe, Email Encryption, File Manager, Password Manager, Internet Trace Destructor and Shredder) without first loading the entire suite.

Launching any of the Steganos suite's tools first brings up a small dialogue box describing that tool's general purpose. The memory footprint differs among the tools but is generally small. Internet Trace Destructor, for instance, requires less than 7MB of RAM in our tests, and because it runs in the background, it's very light on system resources.

Features

Steganos Security Suite 7.0 includes several improvements of existing features. One, the ability to encrypt an entire drive partition and render it invisible without a password, has improved dramatically. Previously, Steganos-encrypted drives (you can have up to four on one system) were limited to 4GB; now Steganos allows you to hold up to 256GB of encrypted data on a single drive. The added volume is useful for archiving photo and video files, for example. The Internet Trace Destructor, too, is better at removing recent browser history and desktop work traces. In total, more than 150 different traces of recent computer use -- from recently read Microsoft Office documents to Web browser caches, cookies and online chat transcripts -- are removed at the click of a button.

Some of the changes in Steganos Security Suite 7.0, however, are purely academic. For example, the Shredder feature now offers the extremely time-consuming but exhaustive Gutmann method for deleting files. Gutmann is considered more thorough than the fast Complete Overwrite and the Multiple Complete Overwrite options that Steganos also supplies (the latter method employing the U.S. Department of Defense standard). Gutmann overwrites files and/or drives 35 times using random data. Although we recognise the value of Gutmann, we have to wonder whether it isn't overkill for most users.

That said, the ability to burn files onto a CD or a DVD in encrypted format quickly, and its excellent email encryption tools, make Steganos Security Suite 7.0 a leader in its class. Sadly, however, the suite's Password Manager feature still appears rudimentary. Using a large built-in dictionary of commonly used words, the password program warns you whenever you select an unsafe password. But although it tracks and encrypts passwords just fine, Steganos Password Manager lacks the ability to store password-protected Web sites and launch your browser.

Service & support

Steganos Security Suite 7.0's slim but effective manual comes printed in a tiny font size that will challenge even users with 20/20 vision. Fortunately, the suite's in-program help file duplicates it. However, there's no searchable index in the online help file, and individual program help is spotty.

The FAQ on the Steganos site supplies basic support information, but if you need a more personal touch, Steganos's customer service will reply to email from registered product users. No phone support is available, given that the headquarters are in Germany. We've found Steganos's email support courteous and relatively swift (less than 72 hours). Note, however, that the company cannot help out with forgotten passwords; only you can unlock the encryption modules within the suite. If you forget your own password, you're out of luck.

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