Symantec announces new security solution suites

LAS VEGAS – Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) today announced four new security solution suites to help customers gain more visibility into their network infrastructures, while also reducing end-user cost and complexity.

Bernard Laroche, senior director of product marketing at Symantec, said attacks have now become more-sophisticated and “very targeted” toward individuals, compared to attacks which were carried out en masse years ago.

“It’s no longer a college kid in a basement carrying out attacks to be on CNN,” Laroche said. “We’ve seen the concept of mass attacks with organized crime before to go after confidential information, but now it’s shifted to where we’re seeing very targeted attacks.”

Laroche uses Hydraq, a trojan identified earlier this year, as an example of a targeted attack. This type of malware obtains critical information by going after a specific individual from a particular company, he explained. Cyber criminals will research who the victim’s friends are and see who they’re connected with by scouring social engineering tools and sites like Facebook. Once the attackers learn what the victim’s interests are, they’ll then craft up a “very personal” e-mail or instant message that doesn’t appear to be spam and bypasses security measures, so the user thinks it’s safe and will therefore click on the provided link. This tactic is the attacker’s way to spread malware into the organization and steal information, Laroche said.

“A challenge that companies face is that it’s often difficult for IT administrators to know where all of the business’ assets are and what applications are sitting on them,” he said. “Some organizations also have multiple security vendors that they work with and few point products talk to each other, which adds another element of complexity and cost into an organization. Being able to manage their business environment is critical.”

To help organizations address these pain points, Symantec has announced its Control Compliance 10.0 Suite which helps organizations develop and enforce IT policies and provides greater visbility into IT and compiance risks, Data Loss Prevention Suite 10.5, which helps protect information, Altiris IT Management Suite 7.0, for complete IT lifecycle management and improved manageability and Symantec Protection Suites, which offer users in-depth protection and also provides unified information security management across endpoints, gateways and servers.

For channel partners, the arrival of the new solution suites means more customer opportunities.

“As customers are asking for integrated solution suites, partners can embrace this strategy,” Laroche said. “These tools also provide more visibility into the network, so partners can also increase their pre and post-sales revenues too.”

As an example, Laroche said partners can offer pre-sales support offerings in the forms of a risk assessment program or a control assessment. The good thing about gaining more visibility into the network also allows partners to suggest other services that may non-security related, he added.

Symantec’s Data Loss Prevention Suite 10.5 and the Altiris IT Management Suite 7.0 are now available and the Control Compliance Suite 10.0 and the Symantec Protection Suites are set for release in June.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Maxine Cheung
Maxine Cheung
Staff Writer, Computer Dealer News

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