Johannesburg, 19 Jan 2006
Spurred on by new - and ever-present - security threats to corporate data, the anti-virus and anti-spam software developers are breaking new ground in terms of sophistication to counter them.
This is the view of Zandre Rudolph, a business security consultant at Rectron, a distributor of Symantec AntiVirus and Symantec LiveState Recovery products.
Rudolph says the fast pace with which viruses and spam are generated is being mirrored by developments in new-generation counter-measures being offered by software vendors in the security arena.
He confirms that spam is fast approaching the threat levels of viruses and that together they represent a significant threat to information integrity and business continuity.
He says Rectron has close working partnerships with software vendors - such as Symantec, for which it has just launched its 2006 product range - with a view to developing marketing strategies for members of the local channel to highlight the need for added security for their customers, particularly within the Windows environment.
"In line with Symantec, Rectron is rolling out a strategic reseller programme designed to emphasise the need for data protection against both internal and external threats," he says.
"There is a need for organisations to secure information and keep it safe from the myriad of threats on the Internet. And there is a requirement for companies to isolate key data from administrator errors, hardware failures and site disasters," he says.
"Whether it`s a natural occurrence, a hardware failure or a malicious hack attack, companies face increasing levels of risk to their IT operations today.
"At Rectron, we are working with our principles to deliver the most comprehensive data and system protection solution for Windows - and enterprises in general - through our reseller network," stresses Rudolph.
He adds that in Windows environments, applications such as Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server are of vital importance to the continuity of business activities.
"With data volumes increasing exponentially, systems administrators are faced with new challenges. They have more data to manage with less time to perform routine system maintenance. At the same time, they are working within data structures that are more sensitive to system outages."
Rudolph adds that small to medium enterprises are most vulnerable to viruses, spam and other attacks because they are generally less aware of the latest countermeasures that are available to them from software vendors.
"For example, we are witnessing an alarming rise in phishing attacks which present serious threats to SMEs as well as their larger counterparts," he says.
"If, during such an attack, a system suffers a serious hardware failure, Windows operating systems and environments may need to be restored completely.
"All companies need to be prepared for such an eventuality today," he stresses.
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