Security and storage threats on the rise says Symantec

According to Paul Dominjon, Senior Solutions Marketing Manager, EMEA, nowadays there are more storage technology options, digital information is everywhere and users are more sophisticated and better informed. These new solutions aim to simplify administration, reduce storage and management costs and enhance availability.

"There is a massive increase in security and data threats in the last few years, not only because of internet and email systems but also as a result of employees themselves, as they are not sufficiently aware of the various threats posed by their PDAs and other such peripheral devices", said Mr. Dominjon. "Symantec is constantly striving to counter these threats with new and improved security and storage solutions. Vision 2006 was the perfect platform to inform our channel as well as end users about the benefits of the latest solutions we have to offer."

Spyware now ranks as the second most serious threat, after malicious codes like Trojans, viruses and worms. Symantec saw an average of 7.92 million phishing attempts per day in December 2005 up from the 5.7 million observed in June 2005. Peak activity saw 17 million phishing attempts per day. This is not only limited to the US and the UK; the Middle East has its fair share of threats as well.

"The UAE is ranked 47th in the world when it comes to Bot infections, with Turkey being the most affected in the Middle East at a world rating of 26", said Richard Archdeacon, Senior Director of the Innovations Group.

"There is also a constant threat to organisations' systems due to the use of broadband. Malicious code for mobile phones continues to grow, together with an increase in the number of attacks that are managing to pass through corporate firewalls".

In order to ensure that businesses run smoothly, Symantec has launched the Veritas Storage Foundation 5.0 (VSF 5.0). This application provides systems administrators with visibility and control over storage infrastructure- thereby reducing cost and saving time. Centralised host administration is another benefit that leads to better storage management and data availability.

Volume server is also going to be launched shortly in the Middle East, which enables data mobility and increased utilisation. It is an extension of the VSF 5.0. The advantages of this extension are many- it enables centralised storage, maximises utilisation, increases mobility of data and retrieves storage from multiples hosts centrally, amongst others.

Optimised Storage Foundation solution bundles, which are essentially packages to suit all servers in the environment, were also unveiled during Symantec Vision 2006. These consist of Storage Foundation Basic for edge and infrastructure, Storage Foundation Standard for application servers, Storage Foundation Enterprise for mission critical applications and databases and Storage Foundation CFS for shared data clustered databases and applications.

Another solution that will be shortly launched is Veritas Application Director which will define application requirements, control application run-time behaviour and track, enforce and optimise utilisation. Symantec also offers consulting services, to help optimise IT infrastructure and service delivery, thereby managing risk effectively.