Endpoint Protection

Hello -- I am using Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1.4 and Firefox 33.1.1.  Firefox has disabled the Symantec Vulnerability Protection add-on, saying it is incompatible.  I checked the table at http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH174537 and it says that SEP 12.1.4 only supports up to Firefox 24.0, and even the latest version of SEP 12.1.5 only supports up to Firefox 28.0, so even if I upgrade SEP, it will still be incompatible.

Therefore it seems that I must either use an old version of Firefox, or run Firefox with the SEP add-on disabled, both of which are security risks.

(For my installation, using Internet Explorer instead of Firefox is not an option, so please do not recommend that.)

Questions:

1)  Which is the lower security risk?  Using an outdated Firefox, or running Firefox with the SEP add-on disabled?

2)  What is Symantec's target date to support Firefox 33.1?

3)  Why does Symantec only support very outdated Firefox browsers?  It seems this support should be provided as soon as new browser versions become available.

Thanks.

Hi,

 1) What is Symantec's target date to support Firefox 33.1?

You can wait next SEPM release date for support latest Firefox 33.1 version.

2)  Why does Symantec only support very outdated Firefox browsers?  It seems this support should be provided as soon as new browser versions become available

Firefox 33.1.1 are released on 14th nov and SEPM 12.1.5 release on 18th Sep 2014.

Symantec hasn't caught up with Mozilla's release schedule. It is better to be on the most updated version of FF than run an old version. Please don't do this.

Symantec will hopefully get this corrected soon.

Hi,

I believe it's difficult to provide immediate product release to support third party browerser. However you can expect the support in the next SEP release. Target date or approximate date is not yet available.

Thanks very much for the replies.  It looks like the correct strategy is to keep installing the latest Firefox each time one becomes available, even when SEPM is not compatible and is therefore disabled.

Correct. As long as you run the Network IPS that SEP offers you will be set. The browser IPS is nice but until Symantec releases an update, you can rely on the NIPS and continue to update to the latest version of FF.