Panda Security is expanding its reach into Africa from its new regional headquarters in South Africa. Based in Spain, Panda has grown since its inception in 1990 to become Europe's largest IT security vendor.
The company's mission is to develop and supply integrated security solutions to keep clients' IT resources safe from the damage inflicted by Internet threats.
"The current growth of IT on the African continent is unprecedented," says Jeremy Matthews, head of Panda's sub-Saharan operations. "At the same time, we are experiencing an onslaught of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats attacking businesses as well as consumers."
A study from Panda's laboratory last year showed that 23% of home users were infected with malware, despite having a security solution installed and enabled on their computers. In a corporate context, the situation was even worse: almost 72% of networks with more than 100 workstations were infected with malware.
"As regards protection, this study has proven that solutions solely based on continuously updated signature files are no longer sufficient to guarantee users' security. To face this increasing threat, Panda Security has developed a new security model based on 'Collective Intelligence'. This system is based on the collection of information concerning malware from the Internet community and the automated processing of this data in new data centres. It allows us to maximize our malware detection capacity while minimising the resource and bandwidth consumption for our clients," says Matthews.
Acclaimed consultancy firm Gartner, Inc has positioned Panda Security as a visionary company in its "Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms". Gartner's Magic Quadrant for EPP (endpoint protection platform) is based on an assessment of a company's ability to execute and completeness of vision.
"Technological innovation is a characteristic that sets Panda Security apart from the rest. We have always reinvested a large part of our profits in the research and development of new products and technologies," explains Matthews.
Panda's local presence will ensure that companies and consumers across the continent can benefit from the advice and customisation of its award-winning IT security solutions according to their requirements.
"This is a very complex market with organisations requiring tailor-made solutions," says Matthews. "Locally-based technical backup and support will be another way this expansion can add value to our African customers."
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