Symantec Puts Endpoint Security on Managed Services Menu

Symantec unveiled a new set of managed services June 23 as part of a push around enterprise security.

Symantec Managed Endpoint Protection Services features around-the-clock performance monitoring for Symantec's enterprise security software—SEP (Symantec Endpoint Protection), SNAC (Symantec Network Access Control) and SAV (Symantec AntiVirus). In addition to remote monitoring, management and deployment services have been added as well.

According to Symantec officials, the goal is to provide relief to IT departments challenged by a combination of malware threats and staffing issues. 

"It's clear to us that a lot of IT departments and security departments are understaffed as they go through this global downturn and … don't have the expertise or resources to handle all the issues in-house," said Grant Geyer, vice president of managed services at Symantec. "When they do, they want to make sure they're focused on more strategic activities." 

The endpoint monitoring draws on Symantec's Global Intelligence Network for threat information, and uses other security event details from network protection systems to investigate or validate incidents. This helps IT security response staff prioritize events that require immediate action, Symantec officials said. 

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On the management side, the service transfers management of the technology to Symantec staff who handle operational and life-cycle management for an organization's endpoints. 

The service is now available globally. Pricing depends on the number of protected nodes and management consoles.

"We believe [this] will help complete the picture for a lot of organizations that today are only doing network security monitoring or operating system and application monitoring by giving them a full picture of all the malware and spyware that is trying to attack them at the endpoints," Geyer said.