Symantec boosts bot protection for managed services

Symantec has boosted the botnet protection of its Managed Security Service (MSS) for Australian customers after reporting a seven percent global increase in the use of the malicious technique in a recent threat report.

According to John Donovan vice president, channels, Symantec APJ, the new bot intelligence capability includes boosted reporting capabilities and increased ability to identify the bot offender.

“We always had botnet detection capabilities, we’ve predicted them for a while, it’s now becoming one of the most worrying concerns,” said Donovan.

Initially announced in the US early October, the additions are available for all Australian customers immediately at no additional cost.

Grant Geyer, vice president, Symantec Managed Security Services said: “Symantec views bots as the most severe online security threat to both enterprises and consumers."

Geyer claimed that Symantec is the only company providing an additional layer of bot protection for enterprise customers through the integration.

Bots can enable a remote attacker to control a large number of compromised computers to launch coordinated attacks including Denial of Service (DoS), and collecting confidential information which can then lead to identity theft and/or distributing spam.

According to Symantec's most recent Internet Security Threat Report, Symantec detected more than 5 million distinct bot-infected computers during the reporting period of Jan. 1 through June 30, 2007, representing an almost 7 percent increase from the same reporting period the previous year.