McAfee, Inc. First to Deliver Comprehensive and Cost-Effective Protection for Vital Information

McAfee Inc. (NYSE:MFE) today announced a comprehensive solution designed to help companies cost-effectively protect their vital information during these difficult economic times. McAfee has also released a new white paper, "The Business Justification for Data Security,” developed by independent research firm Securosis, and released in cooperation with the SANS Institute, which focuses the case for data protection, balanced against other threats such as viruses, worms, and spam.

Recent high-profile data breaches highlight the fact that even in a down economy, data loss is still a big problem. Another recent McAfee research report, "Unsecured Economies: Protecting Vital Information,” revealed that an average company had $12 million dollars of sensitive information residing abroad. This can be risky for businesses, because countries have varying standards — or no standards — for data security. Other factors, including inconsistent security policies among employees and partners, insider threats, and struggling economies, can cause security violations and data loss that could negatively impact entire economies.

With the release of "The Business Justification for Data Security” McAfee aims to help companies develop comprehensive data protection strategies that work within today’s cost constraints. Experts from Securosis and the SANS Institute examine the way in which threats have changed, from the edge of the organization to the center. McAfee is the first company to look at protecting vital information in this holistic manner that lowers the overall costs of data protection enabling organizations to deploy the protection they need today. The white-paper is available at http://internal.nai.com/division/sales/vital_info/default.asp.

"Organizations continue to struggle with the business case for data security, and too often they are asked to use ROI or other inappropriate models,” said Rich Mogull, analyst at Securosis. "The Business Justification for Data Security model is built on the foundation that you quantify what you can, qualify the rest, and use a structured approach to combine those results into an overall business justification for security investments."

Empowering Global Business with Universal Protection

McAfee provides comprehensive, proactive, and adaptive solutions that automate data protection and help customers identify which information assets need to be protected, wherever or however they are used. McAfee solutions distribute protection, safeguarding moving information among disconnected users. At the same time, they remain integrated, centrally managed and fully auditable for cost management.

Establishing universal protection for data, a cost-effective data management infrastructure, and policies that create a security-minded corporate culture can help businesses address challenges and thrive on the global stage. McAfee® Data Protection solutions will empower business to conduct secure, productive business across borders while driving down the costs of operating globally.

• Automate the Understanding of all of Data – McAfee Data Protection helps companies understand all types of data that may be at risk, not just well-understood structured kinds like customer and financial record data. More complex, yet increasingly important types like intellectual property, internal memos and strategy documents, can now be understood and protected. This technology is based on the recently acquired Reconnex solutions.
• Secure Network Communications – McAfee solutions can passively monitor all network traffic interpreting content and context of the traffic to uncover and report on issues that could lead to information loss. They integrate detection of network intrusions with detection of activities that put data at risk to provide a comprehensive view of critical threats, providing the first line of defense against attacks that could breach data on the network. McAfee can also intelligently monitor all network traffic blocking activities that would lead to information loss. McAfee can also integrate prevention of network intrusions with prevention of activities that put data at risk to provide comprehensive blocking against threats, including potential cybercrime. The solution provides additional intelligence about threats necessary to ensure ongoing depth of protection.
• Protect Mobile Workforce – McAfee offers full-disk encryption for laptops and mobile devices, and renders sensitive data on devices unusable in the event of device loss or theft.
• Develop a Culture of Security Around Users – McAfee automates the process of understanding information, how it is used, how it is accessed, and the relationships between information elements. The solution swarms across the network and data center interrogating all information sources to help uncover, understand, and classify information according to security policies.
• Manage and Chart Progress – McAfee Data Protection is integrated with McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator® software, which helps companies reduce overall operational costs, and the costs of meeting compliance and governance obligations.

"We are now the first and only company with a solution as broad and as well integrated for data protection,” said Gerhard Watzinger, executive vice president of corporate strategy and business development for McAfee. "We are releasing the best solution out there to a really big problem.”

About Securosis

Securosis, L.L.C. is an independent research and analysis practice dedicated to thought leadership, objectivity, and transparency. Its consultants have all held executive level positions and are dedicated to providing the highest value strategic consulting available.

About the SANS Institute

SANS is the most trusted and by far the largest source for information security training and certification in the world. It also develops, maintains, and makes available at no cost the largest collection of research documents about various aspects of information security and operates the Internet’s early warning system — the Internet Storm Center.

About McAfee, Inc.

McAfee, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. McAfee is relentlessly committed to tackling the world's toughest security challenges. The company delivers proactive and proven solutions and services that help secure systems and networks around the world, allowing users to safely connect to the Internet, browse and shop the web more securely. Backed by an award-winning research team, McAfee creates innovative products that empower home users, businesses, the public sector and service providers by enabling them to prove compliance with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions, identify vulnerabilities, and continuously monitor and improve their security. http://www.mcafee.com

NOTE: McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator and any additional McAfee marks herein are registered trademarks of McAfee, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and/or other countries. McAfee Red in connection with security is distinctive of McAfee brand products. All other registered and unregistered trademarks herein are the sole property of their respective owners. © 2009 McAfee, Inc. All rights reserved.