awiz is a good entry level CMS, we used it for years before upgrading to our own custom cms based on elevatedX.

for your questions:
- I would not use the built in security controls in awiz, they simply don't work and will cause a lot of member problems. Awiz is a good basic CMS, not a security system
- strongbox is imho the best solution for protecting your site from password sharing, hacking, etc. You can authenticate off of almost any scenario with strongbox too, including nats db authentication and / or htpasswd (you can do both too). And for $150 one-time fee per site, its well worth it.