Topic: Symantec Adds NIS Security for the Mac

[Samker]

On Thursday, Symantec released two new security products for the Macintosh, whether it needs them or not.

Norton Internet Security for Mac ($79.99 direct) offers firewall and antivirus protection as well as tools to head off phishing and Identity Theft. Norton Internet Security for Mac Dual Protection ($89.99 direct) adds a full copy of the Windows-based Norton Internet Security 2009, thereby offering comprehensive protection for Mac users running Windows under Boot Camp or other virtualization software. Each product is licensed for installation on a single computer.

The Macintosh platform is traditionally perceived as intrinsically more secure than Windows, but malicious Mac applications have begun to surface. PCMag's Security Watch recently reported on an Apple technical note (since withdrawn) stating that Mac users need virus protection. Specifically, Apple said "Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult."

"The data we are seeing from Symantec's Security Response is showing that Macs can be a target for viruses and malware," said Rowan Trollope, Symantec's senior vice president for its Consumer Business Unit.

NIS for Mac also integrates with the Safari and Firefox browsers to protect against phishing and other social engineering attacks. These attacks are platform-independent, tricking users into giving personal information or installing harmful applications. As Trollope said, "When it comes to phishing, it doesn't matter what platform you're using".

The firewall component blocks unsolicited network packets to protect against hacking and also blocks foreign computers from exploiting vulnerabilities in the operating system. It also controls which applications are allowed access to the Internet and network, a further defense against spyware. It recognizes different network connections and can use a different configuration for each – for example, a strict configuration for an Internet café and less-stringent rules for the company network.

Both products are available immediately from the Symantec store and from retail and online merchants. They require Mac OS X v10.4.10 or higher.

http://scforum.info/scf_shop/scshop.html


(PCmag)