Thread: Computer security

Security software companies across the globe are rigorously working towards
improving their software to battle hackers. Software giant Symantec Corporation has released statistics which state that the majority of people-while aware of the need for security software-do not take serious action. Since many people aren't tech-savvy, they prefer not to understand the dynamics of security software.

CHIP met with Tom Powledge, Vice President of Symantec, who stated that 25
percent of computer users are mature, secure and concerned about security. However, 32 percent are completely ignorant and need guidance as well as software that is completely seamless and automatic, for example digital families in which parents are concerned about their children's security online.

A further 22 percent are aware of security but don't really care much about it. They opt to accept whatever security software is bundled with their computer. Finally, 21 percent are technically savvy enough to recommend technology products to people who are less aware. According to Powledge, these proportions are consistent across the globe, including Asia.



Further, consumers often complain that security software is too heavy on their PCs; installation takes forever, and the software makes PCs sluggish. "There's a perception out there that security software slows down your computer. And in past it's fair to say that this was true" said Poledge. In particular, the amount of RAM used is a major potential problem when PCs need to run other heavy applications such as games. Hence, Symantec is implementing a 'Gamer mode' feature.

Security products will become as small as 100 MB in size, Powledge opined to CHIP. They will install in less than a minute and consume less than 10 MB of RAM in the background. This means a faster boot process, more space for applications, and seamless usability. Eventually, he hopes, security software will have literally zero impact on the performance of a PC without compromising on security.

To attain that. hundreds of pieces of software are being re-engineered and hundreds of metrics are being monitored. Malicious elements are changing their tactics from traditional email attacks to a new primary attack weapon¬legitimate websites. They attack genuine websites and infect them so that customers visiting these sites unknowingly download malicious code. This is gaining more and more relevance with the growing popularity of social networking sites such
as Facebook and MySpace. Moreover, security threats continue to change their tactics to fool more and more users, even if the users themselves grow more used to sophisticated attacks.

Symantec's security response labs and their intelligence network comprise of hundreds of computers across the globe. Stationed in virtually all continents, these
labs gather pieces of information for updating virus definitions. "Computers running Norton products are never more than four hours out of date behind the latest virus definitions", stated Powledge.