Integrated system secures firms

Antivirus and intrusion-prevention specialist McAfee has announced a major new integrated system, designed to let IT managers control their firms’ entire systems security from one centralised console.

Total Protection for Enterprise (TPE), which is available from 17 April, bundles antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and host intrusion-prevention technologies. And an Advanced edition includes network-access controls.

All of these technologies are managed under McAfee’s ePolicy Orchestrator (EPO), which has already been successfully deployed by IT administrators to manage companies’ antivirus systems, said Rob Eatwell, McAfee’s UK channel regional director.

“This [system] makes it easy for existing customers to acquire only the incremental technology they need, [while] leveraging their existing investment,” said Eatwell. “And new customers can acquire all their systems security [tools] in a truly integrated solution which is easy to deploy, manage and control.”

The EPO allows IT administrators to manage some other vendors’ antivirus clients, Eatwell added. “Some end-users have a multi-vendor strategy and that’s fine, but our goal is that our security and others can be managed in one console, because that [offers] operational and security efficiencies,” he said. The new product is central to McAfee’s strategy to make the EPO a de facto standard for security system management, added Eatwell.

The company has acquired selectively in the hosted and network security market and has dropped some of its other offerings, such as its Magic helpdesk, which it did not regard as core to its business. In future, the firm plans to integrate the EPO system with other network and risk management technology.

Andy Kellett of analyst firm Butler Group said McAfee’s single system strategy is similar to that of several other big-name security vendors, including Symantec and CA.

“Large and medium-sized firms are getting fed up with [their security] being penetrated, and then when they try to complain to the security vendor it [fails to take responsibility],” Kellett said. “We’re moving to a situation where, irrespective of the type of attack, customers will expect their vendor to identify and deal with the threat.”