Endpoint Protection

My company is considering purchasing: Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) and Data Center Security (DCS). Can you help?... 1) How is support?  Is Symantec responsive to issues? Do they take ownership of problems? 2) Does the product do a good job of protecting against advanced persistent threats? 3) Has the product helped you identify security issues in your system? 4) Are whitelisting features easy to manage?  Thank you in advance for any feedback!  L

1. Support is fine. You can pay for different levels of support. Personally, I find this forum to be very helpful and is always the first place I start.
2. As long you don't use AV only. SEP also includes a system lockdown feature, application whitelisting, application monitoring, and application and device control. I strongly suggest using them.
3. Not so much as we use other controls.
4. It can consume resources to start but once you have it up and running it's pretty solid. Just to note, SEP does have application whitelisting and it works fine but may not be as robust as a true app whitelisting software. such as Bit9.

Hi,

Thank you for posting in Symantec community.

I would be glad to answer your query.

1) How is support? 

--> Symantec Endpoint Protection support is availalble with multiple options like Phone Support, Chat Support, Social support & Web Support via MySymantec 

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/blogs/symantec-endpoint-protection-chat-phone-support-social-support-web-support-mysymantec 

2) Is Symantec responsive to issues? 

--> Yes, it will be.

3) Do they take ownership of problems?

--> Problem isolation will be always there, if Symantec is causing an issue support will definitely take the ownership of problems. 

4) Does the product do a good job of protecting against advanced persistent threats?

--> Advanced persistent threats (APTs) pose serious challenges for organizations of all sizes. Challenges related to advanced persistent threats include cyber attacks that are designed to do anything from steal sensitive data for financial gain, corporate espionage, etc., to sabotage of critical infrastructure. These attacks are specifically targeted and are often carried out using sophisticated malware. The effectiveness of traditional file-based antivirus scanning technology is not by itself sufficient protection because a given malware associated with an APT will have extremely low prevalence, that is, will not be widely seen on the Internet. Traditional antivirus signature-based scanning is reactive in that a signature can only be written to detect a threat that has already been seen.

Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 (SEP 12.1) includes protection technologies that go beyond traditional antivirus scanning to provide effective protection of endpoints against the sophisticated malware used by APTs. This paper provides guidelines on how to ensure that SEP protection technologies are enabled and functioining in order to provide best protection for endpoints.

Additional Symantec Offerings to Protect against Advanced Persistent Threats

Symantec Endpoint Protection is just one important way to protect against advanced persistent threats. Symantec has additional offerings to help customers stay protected from advanced persistent threats. These include the following:

Symantec Critical System Protection

http://www.symantec.com/critical-system-protection

Symantec Web Gateway

http://www.symantec.com/web-gateway

Symantec Messaging Gateway

http://www.symantec.com/messaging-gateway

Symantec Managed Security Services

http://www.symantec.com/managed-security-services

4) Has the product helped you identify security issues in your system?

--> It depends upon the configuration of product. I would recommend to run triaware to get feel of any product.

5) Are whitelisting features easy to manage?

-->  SEPM is easy to manage, to know about it's features like whitelisting, System lockdown takes time at initial configuration however it provides extra layer of security. 

Best Practices Guide to Application Learning in Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH134367 

Thank you!

Thank you . i appreciate the additional references.

You are welcome.

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