McAfee Security, a division of Network Associates, used the
Networld+Interop conference in Las Vegas to detail an upgrade to
the software that powers the company's WebShield line of security
appliances, as well as changes to the way the company describes
virus threats.
First, the company announced the release of version 2.5 of the
software that runs the McAfee WebShield line of appliances that
offer users integrated antivirus and content scanning of Web,
e-mail and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) traffic.
The lastest version of the software makes it easier for customers
to take full advantage of the product's features, said Zoë Lowther,
product marketing manager for appliances at McAfee.
It gives customers the ability to use the devices in a "transparent
in-line scanning" mode, said Lowther. This mode will allow all
traffic coming in and out of the network protected by the WebShield
devices to be scanned automatically. Previous versions of the
software had used the WebShield appliances as a proxy server.
When running in the transparent in-line mode, the upgrade is also
automatically configured to scan all Web, FTP and Post Office
Protocol (POP3) traffic, although e-mail servers using SMTP must
still be manually configured to run through the devices.
McAfee will begin shipping CDs containing the free upgraded
software to customers within their licence periods in the next few
weeks, said Lowther. WebShield devices have been shipping with the
new software since 2 May.
The company also said it would change to the way it handles virus
risk assessment.
Starting in mid-May, McAfee will broaden the way it describes the
risk viruses pose by offering a home user risk and a corporate user
risk assessment for each virus discovered, said Vincent Gullotto,
senior director for McAfee Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team
(AVERT).
The change is needed because different viruses pose different risks
to the two sets of users and giving each one their own rating will
help both better address the issues, he said.
Some viruses will be more likely to hit corporations than home
users, and giving corporations information about that will help
them decide what kind of action to take, he said.
McAfee will also change the way it identifies low-risk viruses,
changing their name to "low profile," he said. The name change is
part of an effort within the company to reduce the level of hype
surrounding less important viruses.
The company is also considering prioritising its virus definition
updates, so as to ensure that users have protection against the
most serious viruses, even if they do not update every time new
definitions are released, said Gullotto.