Symantec taps VeriSign, Accenture to bolster security
By Elizabeth Montalbano
,
IDG News Service
, 10/10/2006
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Symantec is teaming with VeriSign and Accenture as part of its Security 2.0 strategy for protecting consumers and enterprise users from the latest and greatest security threats, which Symantec says are increasing in complexity and scope.
At a New York event on Tuesday, Symantec announced a partnership with VeriSign to support VeriSign's Identity Protection (VIP)
Authentication Service, which protects users online by issuing them a password that can be used across multiple Web sites.
Symantec plans to embed VIP into a future version of Norton Confidential product, which is aimed at making online users more
secure by thwarting phishing and other online attacks designed to steal personal information from users.
"When consumers are confident, they feel safe going online -- they know their identities are protected," said John Thompson,
Symantec chairman and CEO at Tuesday's event. He said teaming with VeriSign gives Symantec an "infrastructure that allows
us to extend" its online protection to more users.
With Accenture, Symantec has established Accenture and Symantec Security Transformation Services, an organization to which
Symantec will dedicate 1,000 security professionals to build and implement data security infrastructure and services for business
customers, Thompson said.
The organization will focus on compliance, overall security operations management and building more secure applications, he
said.
Thompson made a distinction between security threats such as viruses and worms that he said have all but been eradicated,
and new threats that are designed to steal information and data for financial profit. Under its Security 2.0 plan, Symantec
will focus on phishing, identity theft and internal threats such as those that steal information and data, and noncompliance
with internal policies and external regulations.
"Criminal elements are going after what is truly valuable in this day and age -- information," Thompson said. He said that
nearly 60% of all organizations expect more than one major security incident each year, according to Symantec's research.
"Think about the impact these breaches could have -- damage to reputation, loss of revenue and loss of customer, partner and
even shareholder trust," he said.
Protecting users who come into an organization's networks from the Internet is especially important, Thompson said, and will
be a major focus of Symantec's Security 2.0 strategy.
In addition to the partnerships with VeriSign and Accenture, Symantec also unveiled both consumer and enterprise products
to support this next-generation security strategy.
For consumers, Symantec unveiled Norton Confidential Online Edition, an online transaction security product that helps banks
and other organizations extend phishing, pharming and crimeware protections to customers that use their sites. The product
is delivered electronically to a user and authenticates a bank or financial institution's Web site at every logon so customers
will be sure they are at a legitimate site.
The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.
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