Nemertes Impact Analysis:

Security vendor, McAfee (NYSE:MFE) announced the release of Email and Web Security Appliance 5.5, aimed at SMB customers. Integrating its real-time, cloud-based global threat intelligence and using dashboards and comprehensive reporting, it protects users against email and Web-borne threats. It also includes a URL-filtering feature that provides granular Web-usage monitoring and policy enforcement.

McAfee’s announcement highlights SMBs need to re-evaluate policies and plans, as they face rapid evolution of security threats. Today, smaller organizations have a security policy for servers less than half the time and routers—despite their often being the key to Internet security for the SMB—are patched only annually for a third of SMBs. Simplified solutions such as this will address part of the reason for lack of security – resource constraints.

Impacts:

Enterprises: Look for advanced email and Web security technology that is available as a single solution and that offers simplified deployment with auto-detect network settings and a configuration wizard.

Vendors: Your solution must have the highest level of e-mail and Web browsing security features with minimal system administration responsibilities.

Investors: Competitive threat to SMB business of providers: privately held, Proofpoint, WebSense (NASDAQ:WBSN), Trend Micro (OTC:TMICY), and Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC)

Katherine Trost, research analyst

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