Infosec: Vendors tackle web safety and staff protection

Security specialists have announced a number of new tools to protect firms

A number of web security vendors have launched new enterprise products at this week’s InfoSecurity Europe event in London, promising to help firms reduce the risk of internal breaches.

Web and email security vendor Marshal announced WebMarshal 2006, a gateway-based spyware-prevention tool, which combines URL filtering, content inspection, anti-spyware and antivirus capabilities.

"A huge threat to firms is internal," warned Marshal chief executive Ed Macnair. "A lot of companies deploy URL blocking but this is not enough - WebMarshal also looks at content streaming up from the web and we can block it at the gateway before it comes anywhere near that trusted level."

Also at the show, internet security specialist Websense launched version 6.0 of its Web Security Suite to help firms stop employees inadvertently exposing them to risks.

Version 6.2 includes a web site blocker to prevent so-called drive-by-phishing attacks, enhanced bot-net protection and a new capability to push real-time security updates out as soon as they are ready, so customers are instantly updated, according to the firm's European senior director Frank Coggrave.

The new version also integrates with the Windows XP desktop firewall and features to offer more capabilities for corporates, Coggrave added.

"We've had to step up a significant gear in trying to keep ahead of the threats out there morphing all the time," said Coggrave. "The [criminals] are getting too clever for the old reactive approach. If security vendors want to survive they have to become more proactive to ensure their customers are protected before they are attacked."