Archive for the ‘McAfee Products’ Category

Social media users have been given repeated warnings about the dangers of the networks they use daily, whether it be dangers from accidentally downloading malware to giving away too much information about yourself. Now, McAfee are giving a helping hand to those who respond to these concerns by taking steps to protect themselves online.
 
McAfee have just launched a new tool that works for Facebook users, called McAfee Social Protection. It is designed as a Facebook app which allows users to share photos with select friends – and those friends only – and not with the rest of their Facebook circle.
 
This responds to the concern about some users that the friends who they permit to see their photos can then share those photos with anyone that they know. This is out of a user’s hands and the ideas of certain photos getting out to friends of friends can make many people uncomfortable.
 
Photos that people might not want to share with a wider circle of friends of friends might encompass anything, from photos with an  ex or current partner, beach snaps from their holidays, photos of their family members, or photos from fun nights out that might not put them in the best light if seen by people from their professional life. There are many more reasons why, but McAfee and Facebook have realised the worry that having photos of yourself floating around the internet might have for users.
 
The app means that you can stop people from copying, sharing, or downloading certain (or all) photos. It even stops people from taking screen shots of them. You can invite friends to view them and those who are not invited instead see a blurry view of your photo that completely obscures it. The photos are not even stored on Facebook’s server, instead on a secure Intel server which further heightens the protection.
 
The application will be free to the public in beta at the end of August, and McAfee believe that it will be well received by the growing numbers of people heeding the warnings about their social presence online.

Guest Article by Sophie Camp

With the Olympics only a fortnight away, many security companies are looking closely at all of the possible dangers that can be associated with a number of different technologies that are being used to make the games more accessible, easy to engage with, and fun.
 
One of these technologies that security firm McAfee have been particularly worried about is the use of NFC payments. NFC stands of ‘near field communications’, and allows for things to be paid for without the use of a credit or debit card. The device is simply scanned and money taken directly from a assigned account.
 
NFC devices have become an essential part of the games in terms of technology, particularly for the athletes. London 2012 Olympics committee have announced that every competitor will receive a free Galaxy S3 smartphone for competing this summer. This wide use of NFC technology worries McAfee.
 
McAfee believe, through their own work and research, that there is the malware out there to attack this sort of technology. PINs can be cracked and a ‘fuzz’ attack launched, meaning that the mobile deivce’s OS is targeted as well as its NFC libraries. This corrupts the data and throws vulnerabilities to light, which can then be targeted by the attacker.
 
McAfee also warns of other malware and virus dangers that could affect these phones should someone with malicious intent get hold of one of the phones that will be handed over to athletes. Their warnings will concern the manufacturers, who have been wanting to promote NFC technology in a wider context. It is already used in some capacities, and the most common one is an Oyster card which utilizes contactless technology for the London Underground. This new use will, however, have to be successfully used without any of the attacks feared by McAfee to make people feel more safe with this sort of technology.

Guest Article by Sophie Camp

McAfee has confirmed that it will partner up with 2e2 to provide the McAfee Enterprise Mobility Manager (EMM) through a cloud-based application to service providers and large enterprises.
 
The rise in mobile devices being used in the business sector reflects a similar rise in overall mobile users. With this increase in use, smartphones are becoming a target for antivirus and other malware threats. Day to day consumers use their mobile phones for everything from internet banking to social networking, and all of these uses have been targeted by viruses and malware in the past.
 
The use of devices such as iPhones, Android and tablets in the business sector means many enterprises are now not just looking to protect the laptops and computers, linked to their work, but the mobile devices as well. McAfee’s partnership with 2e2 therefore will come as a relief to many consumers who want to keep their businesses safe from the potential damage of viruses and malware. Corporate networks are likely to become an increasingly attractive target for malware, so partnerships such as these ensure that they have the choice for full coverage and protection.
 
By offering the software through a cloud application, McAfee and 2e2 are also keeping the highest amount of flexibility for its customers. The software can be used for large enterprises to small start up companies, giving everyone an opportunity to make their increasing network safe from different types of threats.
 
Just as in the day to day consumer environment, businesses big and small are urged by online security firms not to take risks with their security online. Mobile devices might seem untouchable for viruses, but the cases of details of malware on mobile phones have been rising. Safe habits on both mobile devices and computers can help, but security is always the safest option particularly when it comes to a corporate network that holds such vital information for a business.

Guest Article by Sophie Camp

Computer software giant McAfee has just announced that it plans to launch an online support community. McAfee Online Support.

It will enable McAfee customers to interact with other users to resolve issues, share best practices, and discuss emerging trends. And it has brought in a leader in social business software, Jive Software, to develop and host the new community space.

Barry McPherson, executive vice president of worldwide support and services at McAfee, said:
“Sharing information among peers is an increasing preference for our customers and an integral part of our social media strategy. The new support community will enable us to evolve beyond traditional phone and email based services and focus more on collaboration with our customers through discussions, blogs, wikis, user groups and community polling. The community will tie into our social media presence elsewhere on the Web where customer activity is increasing, and provide a hub with the tools to make conversations easier.”

The McAfee online support community will launch in the final months of 2009 and the company hope it will increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, retain and reuse knowledge and enable customers to share experiences that may help others. Furthermore, McAfee believes that its technicians, developers and product managers will be able to engage customers in new ways to enhance products and improve processes.

The new McAfee online community site will run on Jive’s Social Business Software platform (SBS).

As part of its listening and response system, McAfee is already monitoring top social sites Twitter and Facebook.

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, US, McAfee is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. It states that it is committed to relentlessly tackling the world's toughest security challenges. McAfee’s strategy is to deliver proactive and proven solutions and services that help secure systems and networks around the world, allowing users to safely connect to the internet, browse and shop the Web more securely. And McAfee develops products that are designed to help home users, businesses, the public sector and service providers. It enables them to prove compliance with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions, identify vulnerabilities, and continuously monitor and improve their security.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

A new unlimited capacity online backup service has been launched by dedicated security company McAfee.

Called McAfee Online Backup, it offers a new secure online service that stores and encrypts digital assets such as photos, videos, music, e-mails and other files.

And McAfee says that recent research proves that such a service – one that is secure, automated and simple to use – is needed. It was revealed that:

• every week 140,000 hard drives will crash in the United States (according to Google Labs);
• every week 12,000 laptops are lost or stolen in U.S. airports (according to Dell & Ponemon Institute LLC);
• 70% of data losses are due to events beyond user control (according to a study by Pepperdine University);
• U.S. consumers own, on average, nearly 1,800 digital files each, yet more than half (52%) don’t backup their data for various reasons, mainly because they don’t know how, believe it takes too much time, or don’t have the tools needed to backup (according to the Consumer Electronics Association).

One of the biggest plus points with the new service is that it is based upon offering unlimited capacity, which means that consumers do not need to remember when to back up files, or decide which files are important to backup and which are not. And a secure server online ensures all of their precious files remain safe in the event something happens to their computer.

Other benefits include safe and secure online backup. In case of a catastrophe, or device failure, users’ files are safely encrypted and stored on a secure remote server online and are easily retrievable with just a few clicks.

Furthermore, it’s easy setup for automatic backup. After what McAfee claim is a simple installation, the backup process is completely automatic and will happen in the background at regular intervals. This can also be customized by the consumer.

Brent Remai, vice president of consumer marketing at McAfee, said:
“The McAfee Online Backup service addresses many of consumers’ concerns about safely and easily storing their important files with unlimited storage capacity. It completely eliminates the hassle of backup: set-up takes just a few easy steps, and then the service securely backs up files automatically at regular intervals, It’s the perfect solution for anyone with a PC, but specifically the member of the family who manages the family’s digital photos, videos, music and other files. They no longer need to worry about disk failure, file corruption or other disasters such as home theft or fires.”

McAfee Online Backup comes on stream in the last quarter of the year in the following countries:

• Canada
• UK
• Australia
• Japan
• China
• Taiwan
• Mexico
• Brazil
• Germany
• France
• Spain
• Netherlands
• Italy
• Portugal
• Norway
• Denmark
• Sweden
• Finland
• Russia
• Poland
• Czech Republic
• Turkey
• Greece
• Hungary
• Serbia
• Croatia
• Korea.

The new Online Backup works with McAfee’s consumer security suites such as McAfee VirusScan Plus, McAfee Internet Security and McAfee Total Protection. It also works with other security products from other vendors.

Guest Article by Neil Camp