The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Symantec is preparing to change how it deals with cyberattacks and hackers. Attempting to keep people out is a futile exercise as threats appear faster than companies can discover them; instead, Symantec will be aiming to minimise the damage done. “Antivirus is dead,” says Brian Dye, Symantec’s senior vice president for information security.
Dye estimates that only 45% of all cyber attacks are detected by antivirus software. This proves problematic for companies that rely on antivirus to continue existing. Following this line of thought, Symantec is reinventing itself in order to deal with the changing environment.
Several companies are coming up with alternatives to traditional antivirus software. This takes the form of sprinkling false information behind firewalls to distract attackers, scanning for unusual activity in the system, or even making it difficult for attackers to use the stolen information (in the case of passwords or credit card numbers).
Symantec itself has not revealed how it intends to deal with the modern advanced persistent threat, but it would be safe to assume that the future lies in detecting when something has made it past the firewall and responding to the threat. How that is meant to happen is a whole different story.
[Source: Wall Street Journal]
