According to Nemertes Research, there are new trends in the anti-virus market. Companies are focusing on threats to technologies other than e-mail, including mobile phones and instant messaging. Plus, with the remote-worker population growing, and as companies start to use new technologies for convergence and collaboration, a renewed focus on anti-virus is critical for enterprise security.
Nokia and Symantec have partnered to help secure Nokia’s Series 60 smart phones from handset viruses. The goal is to protect the enterprise data that corporate users increasingly store on their phones. F-Secure, Trend Micro and Kaspersky Lab also develop software to combat viruses on handsets, which many see as a growing threat, although it will likely be 12-24 months before they reach the level of other threats today.
Separately, privately held instant messaging-gateway vendor FaceTime Communications announced its Day Zero Defense System for preventing worms and spyware downloads over enterprise and public IM networks. The tool, named to reflect the speed with which IM threats can spread, uses anomaly detection to analyze code against normal behavior, without the need for security signatures, according to the vendor. The goal is to identify and stop IM attacks before they spread, and the software is designed to work with all leading enterprise and public IM applications.
Melanie Turek, Senior VP, Nemertes Research, advises, “The vast majority of IT executives tell us their traditional anti-virus efforts are successful, but as new threats emerge around new technologies, that complacency may lead to trouble. Instant messaging has already shown itself to be a target of malicious hackers, and as mobile devices such as phones and PDAs carry more enterprise-critical data, they will be targets as well. It may be early, but smart security managers will look at emerging anti-virus options as part of their overall information-stewardship strategies.”
Nemertes sees the following impacts:
• For IT executives: If your employees are using collaborative and mobile technologies to enable the virtual workplace, make sure the data that extends beyond traditional enterprise walls is protected — from viruses, but also from unwanted access and data-quality flaws.
• For vendors: Look to emerging technologies for growth. One key area: IP telephony, which is ripe for the hacking.
• For investors: The traditional anti-virus market is mature, but there’s room for growth for companies that focus on upcoming threats. Make sure vendors are spending money in these areas or looking at mergers and acquisitions, before you invest.