Putting the threat in Net 2010

With the release of Symantec's 2010NetThreat site, the security giant has created an online platform to raise awareness of threats on the Internet.

However, the inclusion of Adobe Flash and the absence of a mobile-friendly platform raise the question of how secure and user-friendly the site really is.

Shantanu Ghosh, vice-president of India product operations at Symantec, says the site is a community service for communicating the latest threats, and advising users on how to protect themselves.

However, with a large mobile phone penetration rate in SA, Symantec has missed a demographic of the local population, by not releasing a mobile-friendly version of the site.

Gordon Love, regional director for Africa at Symantec, says at present, there are no plans for the development of a mobile version.

“The 2010NetThreat initiative is currently a testing project to pilot how popular the information network concept is,” says Love.

He adds that should the initiative be successful, future sites based on major events could see a mobile-friendly version being developed.

In addition, the 2010NetThreat Web site makes use of Adobe's Flash Player, which requires the plug-in to be installed on the host machine before any content can be viewed.

These plug-ins allow additional multimedia content from Web pages to be rendered in the browser, but can also create execution environments that allow applications to run inside the browser.

Adobe Flash has come under fire from security experts due to the time it takes for exploits to be fixed. It is widely acknowledged to be a target for malware authors. In one instance, it took 16 months for the company to fix vulnerabilities, revealed a blog entry by Emmy Huang, product manager for Adobe Flash Player.

Responding to ITWeb's question on the use of Adobe Flash, Love said Symantec is aware of the potential issues, and is using a provider in Australia that has met the security requirements to design the site.

He adds that the site provider is reworking the content into HTML in an effort to make the site more accessible and secure.

“Social media is growing, and people are starting to look at the issues using these communication forums,” says Love.

He adds that the 2010NetThreat site includes social badges that allow users to follow the site through Twitter (@2010NetThreat), or to become a Facebook fan.

The expectations of social media have brought people to the site, he notes, and people are talking about the issues on Twitter, as is evident when people do searches using the 2010NetThreat hash tag.

Love states that the site has exceeded Symantec's expectations as a source for news. “We're reaching more media outlets which are redistributing the information globally,” he adds, citing that several international media companies had referenced the site.

The site is aimed at the mainstream consumer, he comments, with a forum being released for more technical consumers for conversation.

However, when asked about the exact numbers and demographics of the users, he responded that there were no reporting requirements laid out until now, so Symantec lacks the correct information to pass on.

”We will be able to do this a little later down the line, but not at this time,” he concludes.