Privacy, Please
To manage and protect privacy, several security software vendors have focused on the area most widely abused by hackers, cybercriminals and illegitimate businesses: e-mail. Companies such as Marshal Software and Sybari Software have developed e-mail security solutions that combine antivirus technology with content-management software. The aim is to insulate businesses from malicious e-mail, as well as keep valuable information secure and protected.
"E-mail is the path of least resistance for hackers. Having employees be able to send out confidential documents is essential to most enterprises," says Steve Bachman, U.S. president of New Zealand-based Marshal Software. "Our business is capturing the e-mail and finding out what the content is about."
MailMarshal, Marshal's e-mail-protection software, deflects spam and contaminated e-mail and protects confidential information by controlling who can send and receive e-mail within an organization. Bachman says Marshal is teaming up with security-technology vendors, such as McAfee, to build complete solutions for enterprise customers. Marshal is also working with solution providers such as Intellinet, which focuses on networking and messaging-security solutions. Frank Bell, chairman and CEO of Intellinet, says the increase in cyberattacks and spam has enterprises looking for new solutions.
E-mail protection software also gives his company a more comprehensive security solution to bring to customers, he adds.
"Internet security is crucial today, and you have to be able to keep the bad stuff out as well as keep the important stuff in," Bell says. "One of the advantages of MailMarshal is that you can configure gateways to block specific types of incoming and outgoing e-mail."
Sybari, East Northport, N.Y., offers an e-mail security product called Antigen, which scans e-mail and attachments for malicious code, worms and viruses before they hit vital parts of the server and network. Rocco Donnino, Sybari's vice president of sales for the Americas, says many hackers are using
e-mail worms to access company directories, address books and confidential data. "Virus writers are trying to spread their programs as fast as they can, and e-mail is the best way to do that," Donnino says.
Like many other segments of the security-technology market, e-mail protection will likely depend heavily on
channel partners to deliver new solutions. Sybari recently launched a certified partner program for North America to win VARs and solution providers in the security market. Donnino says the company will be 100 percent channel-focused and will aim to drive adoption of its technology through partners. Solution providers looking to strengthen their security solutions for antivirus and firewall software should consider e-mail-protection software as a powerful method to ensure privacy for enterprise customers.
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