Symantec 2003 Annual Report Download - page 13

Symantec 2003 11
The Power to Act on What You Know
Knowledge of an impending threat is only as useful as the ability to act
on what you know. As threats become more complex, a firewall at the
perimeter or antivirus on the desktop is not enough to protect critical
assets. Holistic protection requires multiple integrated technologies at all
tiers within the network—gateway, server, and client including desktops,
laptops, handhelds, and any other end-user devices.
Yet the traditional market response has been fragmented, with a
complex web of independent point products providing firewall, antivirus,
intrusion detection, virtual private networking, and content filtering
capabilities. Each of these products must be purchased, installed,
deployed, updated, and managed separately—which can amount to an
inefficient use of resources and an ineffective solution to securing the
environment. Moreover, each of these products generates a bewildering
and uncoordinated array of messages for the end-user to understand and
respond to. With the ongoing shortage of security experts in the market-
place, customers are demanding less complex, more robust solutions
that make it simpler to protect their network environment without com-
promising security.
Symantec answers this critical need by integrating best-of-breed
technologies into single products that enhance security and manageability
while optimizing performance and return on investment. Our integrated
security protection brings together key technologies—including intrusion
detection, firewall, antivirus, virtual private networks, malicious content
detection, and anti-spam filtering—into seamless solutions that can be
deployed at the gateway, server, and client levels of the network. Our
technology also enables centralized configuration, deployment, installa-
tion, signature updates, and policy management. Our approach simplifies
the security environment, reducing the overhead, risk, and administra-
tive headaches so common with a “patchwork” of point products.
Individual consumers and small businesses are ahead of most
enterprises in adopting this philosophy, making Symantec’s integrated
consumer security solution—Norton Internet Security™—one of the
best-selling security products on the market. In the past year, with our
release of the industry’s first integrated client solution and integrated
gateway appliance, Symantec brought this new category to the enterprise
market. We’re delivering stronger security—and higher confidence—to
large organizations worldwide.