Endpoint Protection

Not too many years ago, a camera was a single, discrete piece of equipment developed to do one thing--take pictures. For the most part, it fulfilled the need well. But over the last decade, we've seen an unprecedented integration of photographic and other useful technologies into a single device – today's smartphone. Now we not only have the ability to record photos and video with a moment's notice, we can even send pictures digitally to friends and family in real time, from the same device.

Technology continually evolves. Case-in-point...do you expect the same clarity from your 1.3-megapixel camera phone from 2007 that you require from today’s smartphone? Of course not. Unfortunately, it’s not just legitimate businesses making technological improvements to their products. Cybercriminals are also evolving and cooking up new ways to steal information from businesses and wreak havoc on individual machines and entire networks. As a result, security providers are creating continuous refinements to their products to stay ahead of new agents and threats.

Symantec is at the forefront of security intelligence, with unparalleled insight into what these cybercriminals are up to. Armed with this knowledge, our solutions are always the most current on the market, integrating the most up-to-date security technologies to protect against a constantly evolving cyberthreat landscape. And the latest implementation of Symantec Endpoint Protection is no exception. Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 extends beyond what would be considered a minor update to its predecessor – Symantec Endpoint Protection 11. Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 is a critical tool in helping organizations mitigate the risk of targeted attacks. And best of all, it is free to upgrade for all current Symantec Endpoint Protection 11 subscribers. The Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR) from Symantec perfectly demonstrates the frightening evolution of cybercrime, and Symantec’s Security and Threat Response Team reveals that now less than half (49 percent) of malware is stopped by traditional antivirus software.

You may be asking yourself, what does it all mean? The simple fact is this – companies require new and updated technologies to keep up with the bad guys. That’s why Symantec continues to develop innovative ways to identify and neutralize threats, forming the core element of a defense in depth strategy that can protect against threats new and old.

Here are the key highlights of SEP 12.1 that specifically contribute to a company’s increased security posture:

• Newly enhanced SONAR behavior reputation engine, monitoring files to better identify zero-day and other unknown threats. The current version of Endpoint Protection has increased the number of monitored behaviors nearly four-fold to almost 1400 behaviors.
• Symantec Insight reputation-based security technology, which tracks nearly every file on the internet to separate those that are known from those posing risk. Built on contributions from over 210 million systems in over 200 countries, this technology provides organizations advanced context to determine if a file is trusted.
• Integration with vShield Endpoint from VMware, providing full protection of virtual machines without sacrificing performance by reducing scan overhead by up to 70% and preserving 90% of disk I/O.
• A shared remote cache that allows clients to share scan results and skip files previously scanned by other virtual machines.
• Support for the latest operating systems, including Windows 8 and Mac OS X Mountain Lion – all from a single deployment.

Despite these benefits, and the rapid overall adoption, there are some organizations that have neglected to place migration to Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 at the top of their priority list, relying on the misconception that Symantec Endpoint Protection 11 is “sufficient for now.” Also hindering the upgrade process is the projected time factor for the actual implementation, with Symantec Endpoint Protection 11 customers mistakenly thinking the migration will take several weeks or months, and not realizing the full gains in protection and performance available through upgrading. But customers who have upgraded tell a different story. Overall, Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 customers can expect significant reduction in scan times – by up to 70 percent – with the added bonus of reduced overhead. The best part? An upgrade to version 12.1 rolls out as simple as the maintenance releases you’ve been doing for years. In many cases, customers have been surprised by successful upgrades in as little as two weeks[i] – with 98 percent of those surveyed post-migration highly recommending the upgrade to their security colleagues. In addition, Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 has consistently outperformed version 11, further demonstrating the value version 12.1 delivers to Symantec customers.

Just as it's inconvenient for us to carry around a separate bulky camera when the same type of photo/video functionality can be leveraged as part of a mobile phone, we can't afford to let ourselves be content with security products that have failed to evolve or integrate the latest technological developments. Failure to take advantage of this free, simple upgrade to Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 also indicates that newer, more dangerous threats can go undetected, potentially compromising critical business information and systems. With the protection of your business at stake – and your security posture at risk of being compromised – even the slightest hesitation to ”pick up” when improved security is calling could be a disaster waiting to happen.

To learn more, visit go.symantec.com/beyondantivirus.