symantec

Whenever you type an address into an Internet browser, that address is instantly resolved into the site's numerical Internet address by a DNS server located somewhere in the world. On Tuesday, Symantec announced that online criminals have started to remotely redirect your home network router's DNS server so that whenever you type in a financial institution or other trusted site, your browser will instead be redirected to a bogus or phishing Web site.

The practice, called pharming, usually attacks the DNS servers directly, but this latest attack brings it all home (if you are using broadband connectivity). Fortunately, … Read more

Since November, Microsoft has been slowly rolling out an update to its Windows Live OneCare security software. Although the update was designed to bring in new features, such as the ability to monitor the health of multiple PCs, some say the new version has brought only headaches.

Robert Webb of North Carolina said he started having problems from the moment his software was upgraded in early December.

"My main problem has been that OneCare does not always start when the computer is booted," Webb said in an e-mail interview. "It has to be manually started."

Microsoft'… Read more

In the realm of companies I wouldn't expect to release an online game, Symantec is right up at the top of the list.

But that's just what the security software firm has done with its Cyber Smackdown online quiz, a Web-based game that tasks players with answering questions related to cyber security.

It's a good idea, and if Symantec had bothered to come up with some difficult questions or even a few dozen different questions, it would have also been a nice manifestation.

Unfortunately, it seems--from my multiple tests of the game on both Safari and Firefox, … Read more

Symantec's Norton Ghost is a super tool for backing up your PC. The latest version, 12.0 (wow, is that like the first 12.0 version of anything, ever?), normally sells for $69.99, but you can get it free, kinda, from Buy.com.

You start out paying $50 (free shipping!), then get back a $30 Visa debit card as part of Rebate #1. To qualify for Rebate #2, a $20 Visa debit card, all you need is proof of ownership of just about any semi-related utility: "A stand-alone, retail (boxed or downloaded) version of any Norton or … Read more

Just last week I wrote a blog that described the ongoing market consolidation around data loss prevention (DLP) and its effect on market leader Vontu.

The blog titled, "High noon for Vontu?", was generally accurate but I got the details wrong. Rather than high noon, it turned out to be midnight on New Year's Eve for the Vontu team: investors got to party like it was 1999 this week when Symantec acquired Vontu for $350 million.

It was a pretty sure bet that Symantec would buy a DLP company, but why Vontu? After all, other security leaders--for … Read more

PCLive.com, a service offered by SecurityCoverage, is attempting to upstage security giants Symantec and McAfee by offering a complete suite of security tools for your desktop--for free. Included within the basic PCLive Security package is a firewall, the open-source ClamAV antivirus product, antispyware capabilities and a pop-up blocker. What's more, PCLive will take out the trash (clean out old temp files) and check for the latest Microsoft Windows updates that haven't yet been applied to your PC. PCLive will also e-mail you a monthly report of any changes it has made on your computer.

SecurityCoverage offers users … Read more

PCLive.com, a service offered by SecurityCoverage Inc., is attempting to upstage security giants Symantec and McAfee by offering a complete suite of security tools for your desktop--for free. Included within the basic PCLive Security package is a firewall, the open source ClamAV antivirus product, antispyware, a pop-up blocker, plus system cleaner (removes old temp files). PCLive will also check for the latest Microsoft Windows updates that haven't yet been applied to your PC. For a mere $4.95 a month, PCLive Premium Security includes all the basic PCLive Security along with Web content filtering, parental controls, disk maintenance … Read more

Talk about viral marketing (or, in this case, antiviral marketing). Someone's gone and made a rap video about the Kaspersky Internet Security suite and posted it to YouTube. And they're not alone. Security vendor Kaspersky is running a contest in the U.S. and Canada asking you to make a video and then upload it to a special YouTube page with appropriate tags. Every entrant will receive a "I had worms" T-shirt from Kaspersky and also be entered into a grand prize drawing for a chance to win a trip to Russia, Las Vegas, or an … Read more

I can't remember the last time I saw a TV ad for a piece of software. Not watching much TV doesn't really play into this. TV ads are just too expensive for the average software publisher to purchase. The market in Japan is different, though. It'll support just about anything with folks in weird costumes doing even weirder things.

So it's my pleasure--no, really, I feel good about this--to introduce you to Symantec's Norton 360 ads. Called CM's in the local parlance, they feature a yellow Power Ranger-style superhero called Norton Fighter getting attacked by a gang of mostly black-clad ninja-type characters who're supposed to resemble viruses and other malware.

… Read more