Apreo Database Exceeds 21,000 Games Provides Best Protection Against Inappropriate Use of Games and Other Recreational Files

May 19, 2003 -- Today Apreo, Inc. announced that the database used by its leading recreational-file management products, ApreoFlex™ and AntiGame Plus™, now contains signatures for over 21,000 games. Both products use the signature database to detect game files on a corporate network. ApreoFlex finds games in use, and AntiGame locates stored game files even if they have been hidden, renamed, compressed, or moved offline. In addition to games, ApreoFlex and AntiGame Plus can find any application file specified by the program administrator, such as nuisance joke files, old software versions, or other programs.

"AntiGame is a great asset to our organization. We recently implemented computer use policies which prohibit loading of personal and/or unapproved software on the PCs. With its customizable database, AntiGame allows us to unobtrusively monitor users' workstations for unapproved software, games or otherwise, and clean the offending stations if deemed necessary,” explained Steve Watkins, Assistant Vice President & Director of IT at Summit National Bank in Atlanta, Georgia. “With users spread over six locations from Georgia to California, AntiGame is a tremendous time-saving improvement over our former monitoring technique -- visiting each workstation individually."

Detection of Recreational Files Is Imperative for Critical IT Initiatives

The ability of ApreoFlex and AntiGame to detect tens of thousands of games and other files supports a variety of critical IT activities, including:
•    Enforcement of an Appropriate-Use Policy (AUP) for recreational content on a corporate network.
•    Implementation of desktop EIM, which involves managing the use of files stored on and launched from the desktop. Apreo’s products complement URL-based EIM solutions, such as Internet Access Monitors (IAMs), by detecting files that are outside their scope.
•    Network security since game files can be “Trojan horses” for malicious code, spy ware, etc. Apreo’s solutions can also detect and respond to files that have not been cleared by an IT department’s security process.
•    Service Level Management, which can be affected by the presence of games and other files on the network.
•    Software distribution by providing a fast automated tool to identify out-of-date or unlicensed programs in use or stored on the network.

Regular Live Updates for Continued, Thorough Protection: Once is Not Enough

The game database is updated monthly to ensure thorough protection so ApreoFlex and AntiGame always detect the latest games. These updates are available over the internet through a Live Update feature for easy downloading and installation.

“Apreo’s protection is maximized through long-term, regular use,” said Gerard Periolat, president of Apreo. “Sometimes companies implement a corrective measure for a month, see activity decrease, and then stop detection. A week later, a new employee brings a new game in, and playing starts again. Or, employees move games around the network five or six times, thinking it will avoid detection. In these scenarios, one network sweep for games isn’t enough. Only extended, continued use would find the programs. An organization would never assume that one month of anti-virus protection is enough given the rate of new viruses. The same is true for managing games or any other recreational files on a corporate network.”

Searching Implementation is Efficient and Privacy-sensitive

Apreo’s products are designed to preserve performance as the database grows with an efficient database-access design. In addition, neither ApreoFlex nor AntiGame Plus needs to read an entire file to identify it. Both programs only look at a very small amount of data to recognize an application, which is efficient and privacy-sensitive.

How ApreoFlex and AntiGame Plus Work

ApreoFlex enforces policies that permit approved use of recreational files, such as game playing during lunch. When activated for game use, ApreoFlex monitors programs executing on a network to watch for game playing. If the game-playing violates policy, then ApreoFlex takes a prescribed response, which can range from notification to terminating the application.

AntiGame Plus is designed to implement a no-use policy for organizations that must tightly control recreational computing, such as banks, manufacturing firms with PC-controlled equipment, call centers, secondary educational institutions, government agencies, military installations, etc. Once installed, AntiGame Plus scans specified local and network drives for game files. When a game is found, ApreoFlex can respond with logging, notification or, optional deletion of the file.

Apreo’s solutions are compatible with all Win32 operating systems, and support all major PC networks including Novell, Windows NT, and Windows 2000. The products do not require software to be installed on the workstations targeted for monitoring.

For 100 desktops, ApreoFlex is $945 and AntiGame Plus is $279.    

About Apreo
Founded 1996, Apreo is an expert, veteran provider of detection tools to enforce appropriate file-use for a variety of purposes such as employee productivity, copyright compliance, preservation of IT resources, and Service Level Management (SLM). In addition to ApreoFlex and AntiGame Plus, Apreo develops, markets, and supports SoundJudgment™. The company’s products have been installed in more than 1400 sites worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies. Apreo is headquartered in Orange County, CA.




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