S ome amazing numbers crossed my desk yesterday.
- There are over 10 billion non-PC devices that connect to the Internet today (tv’s, gaming machines, blu-ray players, home security systems, inter alia).
- That number is expected to grow to almost 20 billion by 2014.
- These non PC devices already outnumber PC workstations by 5-to-1.
Which makes you wonder how on earth you can ensure the security of any data, and your privacy.
Norton have just released a suite of products for non-PC devices, in particular smart phones, that help protect you from malware, pirates who would have your personal data, and so on.
The suite, with the umbrella name of ‘Norton Everywhere’, has three main components:
- Norton Mobile
- Norton Smartphone Security Beta for Android is scheduled to be available in June 2010. This new mobile application will give users the ability to remotely lock or wipe their device from prying eyes via text message in the event of device loss. Users will also benefit from Norton-strength antimalware protection and call blocking for unwanted callers.
- Symantec has now joined the partner program of HTC MobilityNow, a division of HTC Corporation, one of the fastest-growing companies in the mobile sector. Symantec and HTC MobilityNow are working in concert for software development and testing on Android and Windows Mobile platforms.
- Also scheduled for June release is the Norton Connect Beta, a free mobile application that can access any files archived via Norton Online Backup or Norton 360 from your iPhone, iPad or Android device. With Norton Connect, users can enjoy anytime, anywhere access to files. Users will be able to download Norton Connect Beta from the Android Market or the iPhone App Store.
- Norton DNS
- Scheduled to be available in June, the Norton DNS Beta will be free and widely available. Users can provide safer web access to everyone in the home by either manually changing the DNS settings of their home router or alternatively, by installing a small application (available in June at www.nortondns.com) which will configure Norton DNS automatically.
- Also in June, Android users can access Norton DNS Beta for faster, safer web access when on wi-fi via a small, easy-to-install mobile application from the Android Market.
- Norton for Smart Devices
- According to industry research firm IDC, there are over 10 billion non-PC devices that connect to the Internet today and that number is expected to grow to almost 20 billion by 2014. Furthermore, these Internet connected devices often have little or no security built into them. Norton for Smart Devices brings Symantec embedded security and other services into non-PC internet connected media devices such as Blu-ray players, televisions and media streamers, smartphones, home security systems, digital cameras, picture frames and more.
- Symantec is announcing a strategic partnership with Mocana Corporation to help manufacturers securely and intelligently 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 and robust online storage to a device in order to secure configuration settings, application data and user data.
None of this may have any impact on you today, but next week, when you take delivery of your new iPad, or next month when you get your new HTC phone, you might want to think about investing in some of these new security features.
Personally, I wonder whether Apple is so sure of itself that it doesn’t think that the currently-Android-only feature, “remotely lock or wipe their device from prying eyes via text message in the event of device loss” would be a damn useful thing to have on their iphones and ipads.
At least you can download previously archived files (but then you can also do that through my beloved dropbox), and Norton’s data storage fees can seem a bit stiff at first, until you remember that they have a huge brand name to put at risk, so their data security and servers must therefore be rock and enterprise solid (we hope!).
You can find out more by visiting NortonEverywhere. I strongly recommend you do; I’ve long been a user of Norton’s products (here and here and here and here)
