Leadership in Information-Centric Security
News Release
Symantec to Extend its Leadership in Information-Centric Security
Proposed Vontu Acquisition
and Data Loss Prevention to Play a Central Role
in
Symantec’s Security 2.0 Vision and Strategy for
Information Risk Management
Taking another step forward in its vision for Security 2.0, Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced its intent to acquire Vontu and its plans to integrate Vontu’s Data Loss Prevention solutions into Symantec’s broader portfolio. Combining Symantec’s market-leading security and storage capabilities with Vontu’s market-leading DLP technologies will create the most comprehensive Information Risk Management solution on the market.
The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth calendar quarter of 2007, subject to receiving regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
“As part of our Security 2.0 vision, we have long been pushing a view that security should be driven by policy, focused on information and supported by a managed infrastructure,” said Tom Kendra, group president, Security and Data Management Group, Symantec. “Through internal innovation and acquisition we have solutions to help companies define and implement policies, manage and protect information and secure and manage their systems and devices. Vontu’s offerings provide insight into the information itself, the context in which it’s being used and the controls needed to prevent its loss.”
With data breaches becoming more frequent, costly and regulated, it’s no surprise that data loss prevention is top of mind for IT and business leaders. A September Goldman Sachs Security Spending Survey indicates more than 50 percent of CISOs believe data leakage to be a top driver of their organisation’s security spending. IDC estimates the Information Protection and Control market to reach $3.2 billion by 2011, representing a 33 percent compound annual growth rate .
A Comprehensive Portfolio for Information
Risk Management
Information Risk Management combines
threat protection and information control into an integrated
set of products, enabling organisations to keep the bad
things out (information security), to keep the important
things in (data loss prevention) and to manage, retain and
find that information when needed (e-discovery).
The
ability to manage these different challenges requires a
level of expertise in security and storage that Symantec is
uniquely positioned to provide. Symantec already provides a
set of products and services that enable companies
to:
• Identify their areas of information risk and
define the policies to mitigate those risks.
• Implement, automate and monitor controls around
those policies.
• Reduce the risk of malware and spam
from entering an organisation.
• Protect the systems
and devices where information lives, including servers,
databases, storage systems, laptops and
smartphones.
• Securely control access to networks and
enforce endpoint security policies.
• Protect and
manage information in message archives and data
centres.
• Provide a real-time mechanism to aggregate,
correlate and analyse behaviours.
• Conduct
post-breach forensics to determine what information was
lost.
DLP: A Core Component of Information Risk
Management
Vontu’s products will complement
Symantec’s existing portfolio with a comprehensive
platform to prevent the loss of confidential data wherever
it is stored or used - across endpoint, network and storage
systems.
• Endpoint: Vontu Endpoint solutions allow
companies to prevent confidential data from being copied to
USB drives, burned to CD/DVDs, and downloaded to local
drives, as well as discover and protect confidential data
stored on laptops and desktops.
• Network: Vontu
Network Monitoring and Prevention solutions stop
confidential data from being sent outside the organisation
via email, webmail, FTP, IM and other Internet protocols to
help organisations ensure compliance with data security and
privacy policies.
• Storage: Vontu Data Discovery and
Protection solutions help organisations understand where
confidential information is stored and quickly find and fix
exposed data on file servers, databases, document management
systems, laptops and desktops. Vontu’s proven solutions
also help companies address PCI compliance, e-Discovery,
data classification and data governance objectives.
• Policy Management: Vontu offers a centralised
platform for policy management, detection, workflow and
remediation that enables organisations define policies once
and enforce them everywhere.
Layering Data Loss Prevention
across the Symantec Portfolio
Following the close of the
acquisition, Symantec plans to layer Vontu’s DLP
technologies across Symantec’s existing endpoint security,
network security, storage and compliance solutions creating
the most comprehensive solution for Information Risk
Management. Unlike point products that only cover the
endpoint or the network, this multi-layered solution will
provide customers with a comprehensive way to dramatically
reduce the risk of data loss.
Following the close of
the acquisition, the Vontu team will operate as dedicated
team within Symantec’s Security and Data Management Group,
continuing to build on the Vontu DLP 8 product suite. Vontu
DLP 8 is the industry’s first integrated solution that
combines endpoint and network-based technology to discover
and protect data wherever it is stored, as well as monitor
and prevent inappropriate data usage.
For additional information on the Vontu acquisition please visit: http://go.symantec.com/Vontu.
About Security 2.0
Security 2.0 is Symantec’s vision for the future of
security. As the threat landscape evolves and new ways of
doing business and communicating emerge, security must
evolve to become more business enabler than inhibitor.
Security solutions must protect consumers and businesses at
every connection giving them confidence that their
information and interactions are protected everywhere they
go. For enterprises, this requires taking a more
policy-driven, information-centric approach to security that
is supported by a managed infrastructure.
About Symantec
Symantec is a global leader in infrastructure software,
enabling businesses and consumers to have confidence in a
connected world. The company helps customers protect their
infrastructure, information, and interactions by delivering
software and services that address risks to security,
availability, compliance, and performance. Headquartered in
Cupertino, California, Symantec has operations in more than
40 countries. More information is available at
www.symantec.com.
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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
This press release
contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
U.S. federal securities laws, including expectations
regarding the closing of Symantec’s acquisition of Vontu
and the integration of its products and technologies into
Symantec’s products, that involve known and unknown risks
and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied in this press
release. Such risk factors include, among others,
satisfaction of closing conditions to the transaction, our
ability to successfully integrate the merged businesses and
technologies, and customer demand for the technologies and
integrated product offerings. Actual results may differ
materially from those contained in the forward-looking
statements contained in this press release. Additional
information concerning these and other risk factors is
contained in the Risk Factors section of Symantec’s most
recently filed Form 10-K. Symantec assumes no obligation to
update any forward-looking statement contained in this press
release. The contents of the Symantec website shall not be
deemed incorporated by reference into this news release.