Cyber criminals are becoming faster, sharper and more aggressive in today’s increasingly complex, digital age. In some parts of the world, being a hacker is often considered a full-time job. In fact, the term ‘hacker’ is such an enigma, it has prompted journalists and security experts to write whole novels about what activity these underground criminals get up to and how the security landscape is rapidly evolving as a result. McAfee president Mike DeCesare spoke about this very topic in an interview with CNBC recently – cyber criminals are becoming very good at what they do and even better at covering their tracks. This means it’s increasingly difficult for consumers and organisations to protect and even stay ahead of the constant cyber threat. But it can be done.
Our latest Threats Report: First Quarter 2013 identified a steady increase in the number and sophistication of attacks. Targeted advanced persistent threats (APTs) represented the most notable evolution in the threat landscape, as data becomes as valuable as money to cybercriminals. The report also found an increase in Android malware, malicious web URLs and overall malware samples.
McAfee is committed to helping our customers navigate safely through the increasingly sophisticated threat landscape and we’re constantly pushing the boundaries of the security solutions we can offer businesses and consumers in protecting sensitive and personal data, devices and digital identities. At the end of May, we launched our new anti-malware endpoint protection suites – McAfee Complete Endpoint Protection – Enterprise and McAfee Complete Endpoint Protection – Business. These suites are the first to link security from chip to Operating System (OS) to applications, protecting against new threat vectors –such as Android malware – and bringing critical visibility to risk management.
These new suites reinforce our vision of a purely security-connected solution, by combining hardware-enhanced security, dynamic whitelisting, risk intelligence and real-time security management all in one offering. Our new offering will also help us to strengthen the service and support we offer through our channel programme. Speaking of partners, last week we hosted our annual McAfee Partner Summit in sunny Marbella, at the very chic Puento Romano hotel. The event was well-attended, with over 100 partners from 27 countries and a number of press coming to hear about the future of security, and how McAfee can help businesses navigate the threats of today’s security landscape.
I shared the stage with David Small, VP of channels EMEA at McAfee and Kevin Bailey from IDC, who shared his own view of the security market, its opportunities and its challenges. According to IDC, the endpoint market is projected to grow from $3.8bn in 2012 to $4.88bn in 2017. This echoes our move towards and emphasis endpoint protection – this is a crucial revenue generating opportunity for McAfee partners. The Channel Summit continued with our SVP of worldwide channels, Gavin Struthers and Jon Parkes, VP of pre-sales who gave a comprehensive overview of the transformation of IT security and McAfee’s channel vision and strategy. One of our best partners closed the plenary session by presenting a successful customer story where a vist to our Executive Briefing Centre (EBC) in Amsterdam had been a key winning factor.
I believe that it has never been a better time to be a McAfee partner. Our Profitability Stack programme brings an array of benefits to our customers and ultimately enhances partner profitability in today’s security market. Our Deal Registration initiative is taking off, and we’re constantly hearing from our partners about how they are benefitting from the likes of the McAfee Executive Briefing Centre (EBC) in Amsterdam, which demonstrates our solutions in action. I’d like to thank all of our partners for joining us again this year in Marbella and I look forward to an interesting and successful 2013 – 14, with the new Endpoint suite rounding off our comprehensive Security Connected portfolio.
