Antivirus Subscription Prices Climb
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Price hikes may be designed to convince you to upgrade to an all-out Internet security suite. Troublesome Trojan horses, virulent worms, nasty viruses--sometimes it may seem like the Internet exists just to let the bad guys attack your PC.
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SAN FRANCISCO  - The number of new viruses and worms aimed at Microsoft Corp.'s  ubiquitous Windows operating system rose 400 percent between January and June from the same year-earlier period, leading computer security company Symantec said on Sunday.
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The Story: Even when there?s good news on the security front, there always seems to be bad news to balance it out. And while we think this news is important for you to know, it?s not an exception to the Good News/Bad News Syndrome.[ Slideshow: 2007's top underreported tech stories ]                                                    The use of e-mail-borne executable virus attachments dropped sharply in 2007. In particular, spammers have dialed back their use of so-called image spam, which tricks filters by embedding text within an attached image.According to IronPort Systems, outbreaks of viruses embedded in e-mail attachments totaled 860 in 2006 and 844 in 2005. But as of mid-October 2007, attacks totaled just 360. Dave Mayer, an IronPort product manager, said it?s likely that outbreaks will total 450 by the end of the year ? a drop of 47 percent. It appears that evildoers are moving on: ?Traditional viruses have been around for years, a long enough time to harden defenses against malicious attachments,? he said.Earlier in the year, IronPort, Symantec, and McAfee all noted that image spam, which appeared about two years ago, is waning, now that defenses have improved. Filters have now gotten better at scanning the contents of the attachments, leading spammers to link instead to images elsewhere.Mayer, whose company specializes in e-mail and Web security, says spammers are now placing those images on free photo-sharing sites ? the ones people use to send vacation photos to friends and family ? and embedding links to those images in their junk messages. These are difficult for spam filters to block because the same sites are used for legitimate photos as well.But as the abuse of e-mail attachments has declined, other types of threats have escalated. For example, outbreaks of macro viruses, aimed at Office-type applications, have risen by 50 percent to 60 percent while URL viruses climbed by at least 250 percent this year, IronPort found.The Bottom Line: It often seems as if the number of threats that you must be on guard against only increases, stretching your resources past the limits. But the truth is that threat profiles change over time, and some things you may be investing in are no longer as great a threat or are now handled by the tools you have in place. So, although you can?t get lax about security, you can focus more on newer threats.Complete list of 2007 underreported tech stories: 1.? Java is becoming the new Cobol 2.? Sun Microsystems is back in the game 3.? Hackers take aim at Mac OS X 4.? There are some threats you can worry less about 5.? Companies may have found a way around H-1B visa limits 6.? Open source?s new commercial strategy 7.? End-to-end Ethernet finally arrives 8.? Blade servers arrive for the masses 9.? BI is dead; long live BI 10. Balance of power shifts to software buyers
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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) - Earlier this month the Business Software Alliance (BSA) upped the ante from $200,000 to $1 million for anyone who turns in a company that is illegally circumventing software licensing agreements. BSA members include a who's who of the software and hardware industry, including Apple, Adobe, Dell, HP, Microsoft, SAP, and dozens more. The bounty for uncovering cheaters is not just a marketing ploy. The Association can, in fact, put some bite into uncovering cheaters, according to Kris Barker, CEO of Express Metrix. Express Metrix is a company that does hardware and software auditing to help companies keep in compliance with their software licenses. "Most software licensing agreements include a provision that allows a software vendor or its agent, which can be the BSA, to do an audit of end-user agreements," said Barker. The BSA increased the reward as software piracy continues to grow. According to IDC, U.S. software vendors lost $7.3 billion in 2006 as a result of piracy. However, turning in the man or woman in the cubicle next to you is not how an informer can earn the top reward. The BSA has 22 terms and conditions that must be met before the $1 million payoff is awarded. The rewards are based on sums received in out-of-court settlements, which is the most common way a company avoids any more punitive prosecution for piracy. In order to earn the $1 million, a company would have to settle out of court with the BSA for anywhere between $10,000,001 to $15,000,000. The terms and conditions also state, that "no reward is payable unless the BSA pursues a case and, as a direct result of the information provided by you, receives a monetary payment from the reported organization." A far more modest reward, up to $5,000, is given to anyone whose information leads to a settlement of $15,000 to $100,000. Despite many restrictions, BSA says that since 2005, out-of-court settlements have totaled $22 million. Another requirement of the terms and conditions states that an employee who has installed unlicensed software is not eligible for a reward unless "you were directed by your supervisor to do so." The rewards are part of a larger BSA campaign, which is appropriately titled, "Blow the Whistle."
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Security pros have their say Anti-Virus vendorsâ¦
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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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A study on software licensing shows that companies are getting ahead of their customers on subscription-based billing.
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New ServGate hardware, starting at less than $1000, has integrated antivirus, spam filtering, and other security features.
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Science & environment: Creators of malware are no longer script kiddies after kudos - they're criminals after your cash. Wendy M Grossman asks if protection can keep pace with them.
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(InfoWorld) - Security software is mandatory for enterprises facing an Internet community of aggressive hackers and criminals. But enterprises shouldn't feel locked into deals with their security vendors, a Gartner analyst said. Under the right circumstances, switching vendors may make financial sense, said Peter Firstbrook, research director with Gartner. And with security vendors making a gross profit margin of 60 percent, enterprises may have more leverage when renegotiating deals, he said. "These guys [security vendors] are pretty fat and happy right now," said Firstbrook, who spoke at Gartner's IT Security Summit in London Tuesday. "They've got a very healthy profit margin. Don't feel sad for your antivirus vendor or your antivirus sales rep." Oddly, the antivirus security software market is mature, but softwareÂ costs aren't going down, Firstbrook said. The major security vendors aren't worried about losing clients because customers believe that changing products would be costly, he said. Before switching, IT managers should think about the complexity of rolling out new software. The companies best situated to make a change are those confident in their abilities to distribute software, test new products, and educate users, Firstbrook said. When slugging it out in negotiations, enterprises can do several things to ensure they get the best deal. First, companies should get quotes from a number of vendors and not be afraid to play one vendor off against another, Firstbrook said. Perpetual licenses are good, but organizations should remember that they can only negotiate a price once. Enterprises should also aim for rich packages that include home user licenses and some support, Firstbrook said. Licenses for desktops and e-mail security services should be calculated on a per-seat basis, but server license costs should be based on number of CPUs, Firstbrook said. Companies should not increase their seat count merely to meet a vendor's price list. Gartner expects an increasing number of security functions to be incorporated into single software packages, Firstbrook said. "I think that over time, vulnerability assessment, patch management, software configuration management will all merge with our antivirus software so we have one view of the security status of a PC, and if it's broken we can update it," Firstbrook said. Â
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Also: High security built right into $100 laptop's OS. Read these stories and more from around the Web at News.com Extra.
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McAfee announces an add-on to its enterprise anti-virus software that boosts spyware protection for businesses. By Gregg Keizer, TechWeb News.
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Online security experts urge computer users to update their systems&#39; antivirus measures, after a wave of attacks by the Zafi.d worm that have swamped thousands of e-mail servers.
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If you don't mind a little paperwork, you can scoop up the 3-user edition of Norton AntiVirus 2008 for free after a pair of mail-in rebates.
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The number of new viruses and worms aimed at Microsoft Corp.&#39;s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) ubiquitous Windows operating system rose 400 percent between January and June from the same year-earlier period, leading computer
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Microsoft did recently announce that they are going to allow users to subscribe to the pre-alert alerts. Premium customers have been privileged to receive a heads up in advance of the actual Security Bulletins