Symantec delays its mobile security suite
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Blog: This ambitious suite will go beyond basic antivirus and firewall protection for your mobile device.
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It may be too early to tell, but some Symantec partners have already begun to express concern.
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InfoWorld - Retailers have begun taking orders for Symantec&#39;s next-generation desktop security software, and the product is set to ship in the middle of next month, according to Amazon.com.
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A new low threat virus has been popping up on some Symbian OS-powered phones, according to an F-Secure anti-virus. The virushas been found at some Symbian shareware download sites under the filename &quot;Extended
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Upcoming smart phone will feature a mobile version of F-Secure's antivirus software.
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Windows Security Center may not know when your antivirus definitions are out of date.
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Accessing the beta version of Yahoo Mail on a PC with Symantec's updated antivirus software incorrectly causes alarm bells to go off.
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While thousands of Veritas software users may be experiencing slow license renewals due to Symantec's new online licensing portal, the security software company's CIO said the wait is worth it compared with using pirated software.
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InfoWorld - Symantec is just weeks away from shipping a test version of the next major update to itsÂ Norton 360 desktop security and backup software, with the product expected to ship by the end of March.
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Everex's Cloudbook ultra mobile PC has seen another delay in widespread availability, with the releasepushed back yet another week to February 21.
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(InfoWorld) - Uncertainty about how to secure mobile phones in the face of increasing threats is slowing enterprise adoption of mobile applications, experts exhibiting at theÂ 3GSM World CongressÂ in Barcelona this week said. Over two-thirds of mobile operators in Europe that took part in a survey said that they detected more than 100 incidents involvingÂ mobile virusesÂ orÂ mobile spywareÂ in 2006, according to a study by conducted by Informa for security software developer McAfee. The number of European operators reporting more than 1,000 such incidents more than doubled in 2006 compared to the previous year, the report said. IT administrators, uncertain how to protect their users from such attacks, are unwilling to enable mobile access to applications for workers. "Enterprise security professionals haven't really worked this out yet," said Lorcan Burke, CEO of AdaptiveMobile. Companies such as banks, with strict security requirements, simply block access to any service, including Internet access, that could open doors to security issues, he said. At the recent RSA Conference in San Francisco, some of the most crowded events were those tackling mobile security issues, said Simeon Coney, vice president of marketing for AdaptiveMobile. That was an indication that IT administrators are trying to find out how serious mobile security problems are and how to address them, he said. Mobile services can be secured in the application, the network or in hardware or software on the device. Among operators responding to the McAfee study, most found that virus protection was most important at application and device levels, although more of them had deployed network-level security systems than the other options. Over 200 respondents from the operator community took part in the study. AdaptiveMobile makes network-level security products for operators, including a system for filtering viruses in e-mail, SMS (Short Message Service), MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) and WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) traffic. Beyond viruses, AdaptiveMobile can also control content, so it can stop phishing and other fraudulent attacks, or limit the types of content end users can access. If an operator has deployed AdaptiveMobile's platform, an IT administrator in a company can set and manage such controls down to the level of individual users. For the mass market, AdaptiveMobile's product allows operators to notify a user by text message if their phone becomes infected with a virus and offer a download, either for free or for a fee, to disinfect the device. Without such software, operators will replace a user's device or ask them to send it off for disinfection, both costly propositions. A network-based security mechanism offers some advantages over anti-virus software that sits on the handset, Burke said. Handset software doesn't prevent phishing and other nonviral scams. In addition, anti-virus software isn't compatible with all phones, making it logistically difficult for the software developers to tweak their products for each version of every phone and make sure to sell the proper software to end users. He calls anti-virus software on the handset "the minimum acceptable response. It's a tick in the box to make people feel comfortable." Some developers also sell security mechanisms that sit in the phone's hardware. Such solutions are ideal for organizations with very strict security requirements, such as government users, Burke said. One downside to the hardware-based solutions is that they take about two years to make it into a handset, he noted.
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Looks like the time has come when mobile users would have to seriously consider getting some protection for their devices. Mobile viruses are coming out pretty regularly now and trend seems to be pointing towards a frantic future.
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A security update slated to be released this week for the Firefox Web browser has been delayed by a day to Mozilla Corp. can test out a fix for a vulnerability made public last week.
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Microsoft is delaying distribution of Windows XP Service Pack 2 via its Automatic Update service by at least nine days in order to give corporate customers more time to temporarily block automatic downloading of SP2 by their employees.
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(InfoWorld) - It may have taken enterprise customers years to get proper security tools in place to defend their PCs, but if large businesses drag their feet in aligning the applications necessary to protect their smartphones, they will pay a heavy price, says Symantec. As part of a media tour to call attention to the planned launch of its Symantec Mobile Security Suite 5.0 package on June 4 -- touted as its most comprehensive product to date for protecting handheld devices against loss or attack -- experts with the company said hackers and electronic scammers are already creating a mobile environment that will soon rival the dangers of today's PC security landscape. All of the attack profiles that have become standard fare for desktops and laptops, from root kit-like programs that attempt to infect device operating systems, to ingenious social engineering attempts that play on the multimedia footprint of smartphones, have already arrived, said Khoi Nguyen, group product manager for mobile security at Symantec. How quickly the attacks multiply and proliferate will be determined only by the pace with which people adopt more powerful handhelds and how aggressive they are in defending the devices, he said. Unlike in previous years where much of the buzz around wireless security could be attributed to forward thinking, Symantec believes that handheld platforms are about to be deluged by a storm of different types of attacks. "Since the first mobile threats started arriving several years ago things have evolved dramatically, these attacks are real and people are being impacted by them today, particularly in other regions of the world where smartphone use is higher than in the U.S.," Nguyen said. "We are still in the early stages here, but things are evolving much more rapidly than they did on the PC side; as more enterprises adopt smartphones and they are being used more frequently to carry out financial transactions, the attackers will be there waiting." While Symantec estimates that there are still about 450 PC-oriented threats for every attack designed to assail mobile devices, the company expects the gap to close rapidly over the next several years. As new devices and applications that are expected to drive adoption of smartphones hit the market, such as those built to run on Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform, more enterprises will buy the memory-heavy handhelds and hackers will follow, the security expert said. In the last month alone, Symantec has uncovered root-kit style threats attacking Symbian smartphones which attempt to modify the devices' operating system files to bypass onboard security features. The company has also observed so-called snoopware programs, which add voice-driven schemes into the malware mix. One snoopware attack, which had the ability to remotely activate a smartphone's microphone to secretly eavesdrop on calls, take control of its camera to surreptitiously take pictures, and forward all of a user's text messages to another account, was aimed at users of Windows Mobile With an estimated 60-70 percent of the world's smartphones running on Symbian software today, most mobile previously-identified device attacks have targeted the company's OS. In moving to target Windows Mobile users in such a way, hackers illustrate how they are already preparing to cash in on the projected growth of Microsoft's platform, according to Nguyen. "Basically the threats have gone from proof-of-concept to full-blown spyware in a span of three years, whereas it took over a decade for the same type of evolution to occur on the desktop side," said Nguyen. "On the enterprise side, companies are finding that the smartphone is just another endpoint that is going to need to be protected in the same way that desktops and laptops are protected today." As a result of the need for PC-like protection for their handhelds, Symantec is pitching a range of applications in Mobile Security Suite 5.0 that mimic its products for larger computers. Included in the package will be what the company is touting as the first network access control (NAC) system for smartphones, with NAC applications still existing as a fairly new security development in the PC space. Much like a PC-oriented NAC system, the smartphone tools -- which must be used in concert with Symantec's standalone mobile VPN product line -- promise to perform a series of security health checks on devices before the handhelds are allowed to access corporate networks. Another capability unique to the company's latest enterprise smartphone defense package is a tamper-protection feature that monitors devices' operating systems to detect any attempts to modify the code, such as in root kit attacks. As with its Norton consumer smartphone offerings, the Mobile Security Suite 5.0 package will also include more traditional anti-virus and firewall tools as well. Other industry watchers agree that enterprises must have their smartphone security plans firmly in place as they hand out more of the devices to employees. And according to executives at Nokia, the world's top producer of mobile devices, more customers than ever are asking about security implications upfront as they consider wider smartphone distribution. One of the most significant concerns among customers remains the use of unsanctioned devices in the enterprise, typically occurring when workers who have not yet been offered smartphones by their employers instead begin using their own handhelds to carry out business tasks. "A lot of people are still asking us about dealing with unsanctioned devices, the administrators realize that there are often a lot of people using their smartphones in the enterprise without authorization, and they need to find a way to protect themselves," said Kara Hayes, senior product marketing manager for Nokia's Security & Mobility Connectivity group. "People are also very concerned about device loss and theft, they want the ability to wipe the data on the device and kill service," she said. "They want mobile e-mail protection and they're concerned about preventing against data loss; security really has become a big part of the conversation with customers looking to adopt smartphones across more of their organization." Sam Bhavnani, an analyst with Current Analysis, said that organizations should take the best practices they have developed for laptops and port them directly into their smartphone adoption plans. "This all goes back to the migration from desktops to laptops. There are a lot of common sense implications, and people need to be sensible about creating realistic policies that both protect the data on the device and allow users to tap into the potential of the smart phones," Bhavnani said. "Some people are still scared to go there, they know that adopting these devices will open another can of worms, but creating smart policies ahead of time and building on their laptop experience will be the best ways to foster strong mobile security."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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Microsoft Corp. has delayed automated distribution of a major security upgrade to its Windows XP Professional operating system, citing a desire to give companies more time to test it.
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Symantec has released firmware fixes for a string of critical security holes in its firewall/VPN and Gateway Security products which could be exploited to cause a denial of service, identify