Symantec Releases Beta of New Security Software
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PC Magazine - Symantec has released the beta version of its newest security software, Norton 360, to help protect consumers from Internet threats, online scams and identity theft.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft released a beta version of its next-generation Windows Live OneCare 2.0 desktop security and management package on July 11, touting a number of improvements made to the product, including the ability to monitor multiple PCs on a local network. Available for free download on the company's Web site, the combined software and service offering -- which is aimed specifically at consumers and small businesses -- also adds new functionality for backing-up data and protecting against malware attacks. Introduced roughly six months after the launch of Microsoft's OneCare 1.5 release in January 2007, the beta -- which like its predecessors includes firewall, AV (anti-virus), backup, and anti-spyware programs -- boasts security improvements, including new tools for locking-down wireless networks and an automated, self-adjusting firewall. Among the new management features being introduced in the product are support for the sharing of printers among multiple computers, a start time optimizer for speeding computer boot cycles, and an online backup system for photos and other images. As part of the service portion of the offering, Microsoft said it has added more proactive system fixes and end-user configuration suggestions to the package along with monthly reports on important computer events or recommended upgrades. The centralized backup feature claims the ability for users to configure and monitor automated storage controls for all PCs covered under a lone OneCare subscription -- which can cover up to three machines -- in a single network location. The newest iteration of the package also adds support for 64-bit PC systems. Microsoft, whose security software product business remains in its early stages, is the third major company to release a new version of its consumer endpoint protection tools in the last month alone as both McAfee and Symantec have also revamped their competing applications. The software giant gave no indication as to when it might push OneCare 2.0 from beta into production but said it is actively seeking feedback from users who decide to try out the package. Since its initial launch in May 2006 OneCare has drawn mixed reviews from end users and security researchers. While many experts have said that the product's pricing -- $49.95 for protection and management of up to three PCs for one year -- has drawn the interest of many consumers, the product has fared poorly against its rivals in some head-to-head bake-offs. In such a comparison study published in March 2007 by researchers at AV-Comparatives -- a project based in Austria and overseen by security researcher Andreas Clementi -- OneCare performed poorly next to similar products made by Symantec, McAfee, Kaspersky Lab, BitDefender, Fortinet, F-Secure, and several other anti-virus providers. According to the report, OneCare ranked last among the products tested in detecting Windows viruses, worms, macros, scripts, and other OS threats, detecting 91 percent of the threats. In stopping systems intrusion through backdoors, Trojan viruses and other malware attacks, OneCare also ranked last out of 13 vendors with 79.6 percent detection. Despite any perceived shortcomings in OneCare, at least one industry analyst said that Microsoft has had a significant impact on the consumer AV landscape for its relatively short run on the market, specifically around pricing. By offering coverage for multiple PCs for much less than it would have cost using older products from market leaders Symantec and McAfee, Microsoft has forced those companies and others to drop their own pricing and changed consumer perceptions about the cost of AV tools, said Natalie Lambert, analyst for Forrester Research. "The market is dramatically changing, and Microsoft is part of reason for that," Lambert said. "If you look at demand, consumers are not willing to pay for security software as they were in the past, they've found ways to get these programs for free, and Microsoft started some of that activity by driving prices down." In terms of functionality, Lambert said that OneCare 2.0 appears to have pulled Microsoft closer to some of its rivals, although she does not believe that most consumers are ready to use all of the tools, such as centralized backup for multiple PCs. Instead of buying off-the-shelf AV products as they may have done in years past, the analyst said that consumers are increasingly using programs bundled for free in their PCs or signing up for services offered by their ISPs, many of which are offered at no charge. "Partnerships are more essential than ever before in this market," she said. "Winning this space will come down to who has the most and best partnerships in the future; consumers want full functionality, but they don't want to pay for it, and the vendors will need to get money from someplace, and it will be from the PC manufacturers and ISPs."
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Software maker's first antispyware application is nearly ready for action. It could be released this week.
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Symantec's next-generation desktop security software is set to ship in the middle of next month, according to Amazon.com.
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Security company Symantec Corp. plans to announce the release of a patch management product on Monday that it says will enable small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to stay on top of software vulnerabilities.
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Using its strengths in virtual machine technology, VMWare Inc. on Monday unwrapped new beta software for the desktop that allows administrators to more securely deploy and mange work environments outside the corporate network.
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CA is seeking beta testers for the 2008 version of its Internet Security Suite Plus, its all-in-one application for protecting against viruses, phishing attacks, spyware, spam and other Web borne threats. The software bundles together CA's other products, including eTrust Personal Firewall and the popular PestPatrol.
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New security software supplements antivirus protection by scanning systems for 'bot' malware that can take over unprotected PCs.
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Grisoft has launched the AVG Mobile Security suite for mobile phones, now available as a free beta.
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Symantec published a series of four research reports on Feb 28 that critique various security elements of Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system, including the software's ability to ward off existing malware threats.
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Blog: Symantec technology creates new protection for Internet Explorer users.
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Microsoft on Thursday released a test version of its new Forefront Security for SharePoint software. The product is based on the Antigen software Microsoft picked up in its acquisition of Sybari Software.
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Symantec Corp. has released new editions of its consumer Norton AntiVirus and Norton Internet Security software, adding browser defenses for some users in both packages and wrapping its new identity initiative into the software.
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Symantec Corp. has repaired a serious problem with versions of its leading antivirus software, which protects some of the world&#039;s largest corporations and U.S. government agencies. The flaw lets hackers steal sensitive data, delete files or implant malicious programs.
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Apple yesterday released a 12.7MB security update that consists of several revised components including Apache, AppKit, HIToolbox, Kerberos, Postfix, PSNormalizer, Safari and Terminal.
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(InfoWorld) - Symantec will kick off its annual Symantec Vision conference next week with the first public release of its next-generation corporate anti-virus software, Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0. Under the code name Hamlet, the product has been available to a select group of beta testers since March, but next week it will be released in a public beta, according to Symantec. Company representatives declined to reveal Hamlet's official product name, but it's listed on the Vision conference Web site. Hamlet will be a follow-up to Symantec's AntiVirus Corporate Edition, version 10. The new software is a major advance for Symantec, which has been working for more than a year to integrate firewall, zero-day protection, and network access control features into its anti-virus product. "This is the next major version of the code base," said Brian Foster, senior director of product management with Symantec's endpoint security group. "With this release, we're really focused on changing the game for anti-virus." In addition to performance improvements, Hamlet will be easier to use and to manage, Foster said. Hamlet includes code from two recent Symantec acquisitions. It will include firewall capabilities based on the Sygate Enterprise Protection software Symantec acquired in 2005. Another new feature will be SONAR (Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response), based on code that Symantec acquired as part of its 2005 purchase of Whole Security. Although Hamlet is a step forward, anti-virus vendorsÂ such asÂ Symantec are playing catch-up in the fight against malware writers, who are increasingly evading detection with a large number of low-circulation variants of their code, said Andrew Jaquith, an analyst with Yankee Group. "They still have work to do," he said. "I don't think Symantec is quite cognizant of the degree to which these variants are making their [research] labs a lot less effective." Symantec needs to add "much more comprehensive behavior blocking" and possibly "herd intelligence" capabilities that would allow users to directly identify and share information on the latest threats, Jaquith said. "Most of theÂ [anti-virus] labs are like fishing boats with a drift net," he added. "They are good at catching the big fish, but the bad guys are basically flooding the ocean with little minnows that are going right through the net." Symantec competitor McAfee is planning to announce a rival product to Hamlet next week relating to the company's "Total Protection for Enterprise with ePolicy Orchestrator security management software," a McAfee spokesman said Thursday. He declined to offer further details on the announcement, however. The commercial version of Hamlet is expected to be available later this year. Pricing has not yet been released. Symantec Vision runs from Tuesday to Thursday next week at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.ADVERTISEMENTIBM Information On Demand 2006Industrial Industry Leaders, please join us at IBM's premier information management global event, IBM Information On Demand 2006, October 15-20, Anaheim, CA. More IBM business and technical solutions content in one place than ever before! Select from  over 800 sessions. Register today!
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(InfoWorld) - When Windows Vista ships next year, customers might have a tougher time getting their security software to work properly, executives from Symantec said Wednesday. At issue are two new features being introduced with Vista: an enhanced Windows Security Center as well as a feature in the 64-bit version of Vista called PatchGuard. Microsoft says it is adding these features to lock down the operating system, but Symantec believes that they will be harmful to customers by making it harder for them to use third-party software. "There's no question that they're leveraging a monopolistic position to limit customer choice," said Chris Paden a Symantec spokesman. While Symantec executives did accuse Microsoft of being more difficult to work with on Vista than with previous operating system introductions, they stopped short of accusing Microsoft of antitrust violations. "It's not anti-competitive behavior, because Vista hasn't even hit the market yet, " Paden said. Security vendors like Symantec are in a state of heightened sensitivity these days as they've begun to compete with Microsoft head-on, and the specter of further antitrust actions looms over Microsoft's every move in the security space. Last week the European Union's spokesman on competition, Jonathan Todd, warned that theÂ market could be threatenedÂ if Microsoft doesn't allow security vendors a fair chance of competing. Symantec and other security vendors dislike PatchGuard because it prevents them from accessing the Windows kernel. They say it will stop them from delivering important features like Symantec's "anti-tampering" technology, which prevents malicious programs from modifying Symantec's own software. PatchGuard will also make it more difficult for security vendors to protect against malicious software that takes advantage of kernel-level bugs, said Eric Sites, vice president of research and development with Sunbelt Software. "There are a lot of new exploits coming out that exploit kernel-level drivers, " he said. "If we're able to get into the kernel, we can watch for things like that, but with what Microsoft is doing we can't do that." Microsoft declined to be interviewed for this article, but in an interview with IDG News last week a Microsoft executive said that PatchGuard was simply an effort toÂ prevent the kernel from being misused. "We think that there's a significant amount of confusion around... certain security features in the product that we think raise the foundation," said Stephen Toulouse a senior product manager in the Security Technology Unit. "What we're doing is we're walling off the kernel from attackers, because the functionality that is currently there was never meant to be used by anybody -- by software vendors or attackers." But PatchGuard is enabled only in the 64-bit version of Windows. Because there are few 64-bit applications written for Vista, most of Vista's initial users are expected to run the operating system in 32-bit mode, and their security software will still be able to access the kernel. A more immediate issue for Symantec is many Vista users will find that both the Windows Security Center and Symantec warnings will pop up simultaneously. This doesn't happen with Windows XP because Symantec's software is able to automatically disable the Windows warnings, but with Vista users will have to turn off the Security Center themselves. This will make things unnecessarily complicated for many customers, said Rowan Trollope, Symantec's vice president of consumer engineering. "Most users can't figure out how to do that," he said. With two warnings popping up, each with different wording, users will be confused at best, and may simply begin ignoring security warnings altogether, said Sites. Some observers have speculated that Symantec may press the EU for action against Microsoft in this matter, but Trollope and Paden wouldn't say what Symantec planned to do to address these problems. "We're looking at all the possibilities now," said Trollope, "And none of them are good for customers."ADVERTISEMENTMAKE SOA REAL WITH IBM WEBSPHERE PODCASTStreamline processes and maximize efficiency within a proven service oriented architecture. Take back control of your business processes with IBM WebSphere.