Internet security firm Symantec today announced plans to expand the breadth of its offerings to include basically any device that connects to the internet. According to Dan Nadir, director of product management for Symantec, the company is launching a three-pronged strategy called Norton Everywhere that it hopes will enable consumers and businesses to access the Internet securely from anywhere on any device.
The three-pronged initiative will include a mobile component, a Domain Name Server (DNS) approach for securing home and business networks, as well as a security offering for manufacturers of Internet enabled devices, such as game consoles, BlueRay players and even TVs.
"We know the PC is important and it continues to be important, but every day that goes by, more and more people are spending more and more time on the internet, and they're connecting to the internet in alternative ways," Nadir said, noting a recent report that showed that 4 percent of people connecting to the BBC's Website did so from their Wii.
On the mobile side, the company is announcing a series of services and applications for iPhone and Android. Android gets the bulk of the attention due to the platform's open nature and the fact that Apple already offers some duplicate services via its MobileMe service.
In June the company will deliver something called Norton Connect, which securely stores data and files on the cloud and allows users to access that data from their handsets.
But the more extensive of the apps the company will roll out for smartphones will be available on Android. Norton Smartphone Security for Android is a free app for Android phones that offers features like a meter that displays when users are roaming and using data, a call and text blocking service and remote lock and swipe functionality in the event that a customer has lost their device. Nadir also said that the Norton Smartphone Security for Android will include "basic scanning" for malicious apps.
"What our scanner is going to do is basically introduce a black list of known programs that are either overtly malicious or that are abusing privacy or data that's on the device," Nadir said.
The third prong of the initiative is a strategic partnership with Mocana Corporation that is meant to provide turn-key security solutions to device manufacturers. Among other goals, the solution will allow manufacturers to update a device's firmware, operating system and applications, remotely support a device in order to drive down a device's support costs and bring secure online storage to a device in order to cache configuration settings, application data and user data.
Symantec this week completed the acquisition of VeriSign, the Web-based security company that specializes in SSL certificates that verify a Website's authenticity.