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McAfee Focus: New Enhancements To Support Endpoint Security, Asset Discovery, Multifunction Devices

By Ken Presti
October 23, 2012    7:14 PM ET

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McAfee is rolling out a series of product enhancements designed to help channel partners beef up security, identify new devices on the network and defend a relatively new attack vector involving multifunction devices.

The announcements are being made as part of the company's Focus 12 partner conference under way this week in Las Vegas.

Two of the three rollouts issued on Tuesday feature whitelisting, which is gaining momentum in a security industry where blacklisting through antivirus packages is having trouble scaling up to the vast number of new malware signatures arriving on the scene every day. In addition, printers and multifunction devices are entering the security dialogue at an escalating rate.

[Related: McAfee Focus: Threats Increase, But So Does Security]

"These types of devices are tied into the network infrastructure, frequently have their own IP addresses and have become an attack vector in their own right," said Candace Worley, senior vice president of endpoint security at McAfee. "We are trying to get better visibility into what is trying to compromise the system. And, context becomes critically important as we look at securing the full range of devices on the network."

Thus, forthcoming advancements to the company's endpoint security products are intended to make the systems more context-aware. Whitelisting, zero-day intrusion prevention, protection of master boot records, secure containers for mobile devices and encrypted remote management all factor heavily into the equation.

The newest version of McAfee Deep Defender is intended to meet the needs around root kit and master boot record (MBR) protection. "Version 1.5 adds the ability to recognize anything attempting to compromise the MBR," said Worley.

Enhancements to the endpoint encryption capability are intended to limit latency while at the same time integrating the capability more tightly with the ePO Deep Command product, as well as with the AMT technology provided by parent company, Intel. "This provides us with an out-of-band channel to reach into firmware and remediate any compromises that might have occurred," Worley added.

New application control eases the burdens around whitelisting, supporting both the IT manager and the user. "For example, a user can add printer drivers to their system and log the fact that they have done so," Worley added.

NEXT: McAfee Partners With Xerox To Tackle Multifunction Devices

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