The Hindu Business Line : Symantec offers endpoint protection for desktops

It blocks specific actions based on the location of the user, thereby providing advanced threat prevention from targeted attacks – known and unknown.

L.N. Revathy

Coimbatore, Jan. 4 Can you think of a store without a PC (except may be the fair price shop)? Having accepted the use of such desktop computers in billing, in preparation of project reports, for playing games and so on, have you ever paused to think how these endpoint systems are protected from worms and viruses?

A recent study has revealed that India lagged far behind the rest of the world in instituting even the most basic information security practices and tools.

Lack of security tools

“There is an absence of even the most routine security tools (such as patch management, content filters, access control software) and policies (secure disposal of hardware, business continuity plans, setting security baselines for outside business partners),” says Mr Vishal Dhupar, Managing Director, Symantec India.

Findings show that extortion, fraud or intellectual property theft occurred in at least one out of every six companies last year and this was four times more than the rest of the world. SMBs have been victims of data theft and data leakage because they lacked multiple layers of security defences.

“Indian organisations have suffered huge financial loss due to cyber attacks,” he said and pointed out that while security concerns were on the rise, the challenge was in managing the dynamics of endpoint infrastructure.

“Increased complexities, rising endpoint management costs and growing number of known and unknown threats have necessitated the need for providing proactive technologies to counter security threats and protect users from the present and emerging threats,” Mr Dhupar said and admitted that the endpoint systems such as desktop computers and servers were the weakest chain in the network.

Actual usage

Symantec’s endpoint protection automatically analyses application behaviour and network communications to detect and block suspicious activities. It even blocks specific actions based on the location of the user, thereby providing advanced threat prevention from targeted attacks – known and unknown, Mr Dhupar said.

He pointed out that in the case of an infected endpoint, security products repaired the damage by disinfecting or quarantining the system by deploying the necessary patch.

“The goal is to increase endpoint protection while eliminating the administrative overhead and costs associated with multiple security products,” he added.

Symantec’s endpoint protection, according to him, eliminated the need for deploying additional network access control software on the organisation’s endpoint devices.