Gartner Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms- 2013

 Gartner  has  released  their 2013 Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms,   ID:G00247705.  Five performers are in the Leaders Quadrant.  Their approximate order in the report: McAfee, Symantec, Kaspersky, Trend Micro, and Sophos.  This is a little bit of a switch from 2012 when the order was Symantec, McAfee, Sophos, Kaspersky, and Trend Micro Microsoft, like in the 2012 report, was the only company in the Challenger portion of the grid.   Analysts for the report - Peter Firstbrook, John Girard, and Neil MacDonald.  Congrats to all in this portion of the quadrant.

Probably not so pleased with the report are Threatrack Security, Beyond Trust, and Check Point Software Technologies.  These were    the bottom three in the Niche Players portion of the quadrant.  Beyond Trust was the overall lowest in the quadrant with respect to ability to execute.  Check Point Software  slipped from the Visionary portion of the grid to this quadrant.  Not good.

McAfee continues its assimilation into Intel, who purchased them a couple of years ago.  The McAfee name will disappear and become   Intel Security.  Kaspersky continues their assault on Trend Micro. Sophos is aggressively expanding their business offerings, has revamped their channel program, http://channelnomics.com/2014/02/18/sophos-revamps-simplifies-partner-program/  remaining (and probably will remain)  a business focused security vendor.

The   Gartner Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms report is available for purchase on their website.  Some vendors such as Symantec have it available on their website for those who register.

Regarding the Leaders quadrant from the Gartner Magic Quadrant Endpoint report - “However, a leading vendor isn't a default choice for every buyer, and clients should not assume that they must buy only from vendors in the Leaders quadrant.  Some clients believe that Leaders are spreading their efforts too thinly and aren't pursuing clients' special needs.”

For more details on the Magic Quadrant and how it is created, read “Magic Quadrants and MarketScopes: How Gartner Evaluates Vendors within a Market”.     Sometimes a leader is not the best solution for a particular customer.  Despite that, you will see many   presentations where the vendor uses being in the Leaders quadrant   as a reason to buy from that particular vendor.  www.gartner.com

To see a blog on last year’s results - http://kensek.blogspot.com/2013/01/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-endpoint.html

ckensek on Twitter.

  

AV-Comparatives File Detection Test of Malicious Software - March 2013

Test group AV-Comparatives has released their March 2013 File Detection of Malicious Software report.  Ten pages of nice reading.  The three star performers, in order, were Avira, F-Secure, BitDefender, BullGuard, and Kaspersky.  Congratulations to these five vendors for their performance!  G Data had the top detection rate, 99.9% but suffered in their overall performance due to false positives.  ESET finished 17^th in detection rate, which may have precipitated  their drop in the standings.  The only free product in the test was from Panda. 

There was some movement from the av-comparatives 2012 summary report.  The companies receiving Top Rated designation were,  in alphabetical order - Avast, Avira, Bitdefender, BullGuard, ESET, F-Secure, G DATA, and Kaspersky.  

The company with products in the yellow box, otherwise known as Symantec, was included in this report.  This was the first time in a long while.  Suffice it to say, Symantec has nowhere to go but up, finishing in the “tested” (not even one star) category.  They had the lowest detection rate of all products tested.  Shout out to CEO Steve Bennett; that is okay.  Next test. Eva, get those engineers out of the cloud and working on the engine and file detection ;)

What this report is showing is that the products with the most name brand recognition are not always the top performers.  Trend Micro only received one star, and McAfee two stars.  Average these scores with Symantec and you get one star out of three.  Ouch.  For the complete report, you will have to go to the www.av-comparatives.org  web site. 

Tests such as these are much more valuable than  looking at  “likes” on a company web site. People should look at the av-test and Virus Bulletin web site.  PC Magazine does extensive testing, as well.  Put something on your device.  You don’t have to install a toolbar to get a price break.  Look, also, for installing (in addition) one of the free products that helps protect you while surfing the web.  McAfee, Zone Labs, Blue Coat, are among the vendors providing these.  You may want to install an internet security product for more comprehensive protection than that provided by an antivirus product.

  

About AV-comparatives     www.av-comparatives.org

AV-Comparatives is an Austrian Non-Profit-Organization.  They provide independent Antivirus software tests free to the public.  Go to their website to view all the great comparative reports and surveys they publish.  A great number of their reports are free.

SC Magazine Reader Trust Award 2013 US

SC Magazine gave out their Reader Trust Award(s) 2013 US on February 26 at the Intercontinental Hotel during RSA 2013 San Francisco.   It was quite a formal black tie affair. Finalists were announced in December for the Reader Trust Award.

  

The winners in the Reader Trust Award  2013 categories are as follows: 

• Best Anti-Malware Gateway - Symantec Web Gateway
• Best Fraud Detection   - RSA Adaptive Authentication
• Best Security Information/Event Management (SIEM) Appliance - Splunk Enterprise
• Best Security Solution - Tenable Security Center
• Best Emerging Technology - CipherCloud Gateway
• Best Mobile/Portable Device Security - Marble Security for Marble Access
• Best Database Security Solution – McAfee Database Security Solution
• Best IPsec/SSL VPN - Juniper Networks MAG Series Junos Pulse Gateways
• Best Web Application Firewall - Barracuda Web Application Firewall
• Best Data Leakage Prevention - Symantec Data Loss Prevention
• Best Enterprise Firewall – Check Point Software Technologies Check Point R75.40
• Best Identity Management Application  - CA Technologies CA IdentityMinder
• Best NAC Product –  Trustwave NAC
• Best email Security - Barracuda Networks for Barracuda email Security
• Best Cloud Computing Security - Juniper Networks vGW Virtual Gateway
• Best Multifactor Product – RSA SecurID
• Best Intrusion Detection/Prevention Product - Check Point IPS Software Blade
• Best Vulnerability Management Tool - Qualys for QualysGuard Vulnerability Management
• Best Policy Management Solution - SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
• Best Regulatory Compliance Solution – Websense Data Security Suite
• Best UTM Security - Symantec Endpoint Protection 12
• Best Computer Forensics Tool - Guidance Software for Encase
• Best SME Security Solution - Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Windows Workstations

Congratulations to all the winners!  Symantec and Barracuda were multiple winners. All winners  get bragging rights for a year and numerous marketing opportunities.  Look for the awards to go up on web sites quickly.  Some, but not all of these companies will probably be participating in the SC Magazine UK competition, as well. 

People can go to the SC Magazine site for the Excellence Awards and the Professional Award recipients and to view which companies were awarded finalist designations.  There is a downloadable pdf describing the winners and listing the finalists.

http://awards.scmagazine.com/winners/2013  

To view a list of the finalists http://kensek.blogspot.com/2012/12/sc-magazine-awards-2013-us.html

 

February Virus Bulletin RAP Averages Quadrant (Reactive and Proactive) July 2012 through February 2013

Virus Bulletin has released their   RAP Averages Quadrant for the July through February timeframe.  There was a little bit of movement from the previous test, but nothing too exciting.  Avira Free wins among the companies best known for their freemium solutions.  Avast was a little ahead of AVG Technologies for Praha bragging rights.   

Once again, some estimating was necessary to pick the below.

RAP Averages Quadrant July 2012 through February 2013

1. Coranti
2. Avira Free
3. G Data
4. Fortinet
5. Lavasoft, TrustPort, BitDefender, BullGuard, Huari

Hall of Shame awards for their performance – Total Defense (by far), SPAMfighter, Frisk, and Commtouch. All scored below 70% on Reactive Detection, with Total Defense at about 55%.  Where are the 800-pound gorillas awards go to Symantec and Trend Micro for not being in the test.  Come on, Steve Bennett.  This test and AV-comparatives.  Time to step up.  Symantec had a big booth at the RSA security show.  The company   should be willing to be in these. 

The previous RAP averages test  had clusters of companies, as listed below. 

1. Zeobit, Coranti (clear winners)
2. Lavasoft, TrustPort, G Data
3. Fortinet, Avira Free, Avira Pro, Roboscan, BitDefender, BullGuard, Emisoft, eScan

 Tests like these provide  useful information in evaluating the relative strengths of the products.  It obviously wins out over the wisdom of Facebook fans clicking on like!  You can view the RAP Averages Quadrant chart at

http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/latest_comparative/index

Subscribers to Virus Bulletin's publications have access to more details on the results.

RAP Averages Quadrant

This test measures products' detection rates across four distinct sets of malware samples.  The first three test sets comprise malware first seen in each of the three weeks prior to product submission.  These measure how quickly product developers and labs react to the steady flood of new malware emerging every day across the world.  A fourth test set consists of malware samples first seen in the week after product submission.

http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/latest_comparative/index

  

Virus Bulletin

UK based Virus Bulletin started in 1989.  They provide PC users with a regular source of intelligence about computer viruses, their prevention, detection, and removal, and how to recover programs and data following an attack.  The Virus Bulletin website is at www.virusbtn.com

 

RSA 2013 San Francisco - Where the World Talks Security

The RSA 2013 San Francisco security trade show  takes place  at Moscone Center February 25 through March 1.  “Where the World Talks Security” is the theme of this year’s show.  http://www.rsaconference.com/events/2013/usa/index.htm

 

Near the bottom of this blog is information on getting a free RSA  pass (exhibition hall) from Ahnlab, Zscaler, or Sophos.

The show has grown in size, with over 350 companies exhibiting.  The exhibition hall area will be open Tuesday through Thursday from 11am to 6pm (3pm on Thursday) for individuals with a full conference pass; there will be 275 different sessions to attend across 22 tracks.  Threats are evolving.  The cyber criminals are getting more creative. 

Up until several years ago, if you said “APT”, the brightest people in the room would say, “Advanced Placement Test.”  Now they are saying, “Advanced Persistent Threat.”  A number of security pundits are saying that traditional defenses are ineffective against today’s more sophisticated threats.  Here is your chance to learn about what companies are doing to protect individuals and companies against these. 

A number of security vendors may not have booths.  Look for stealthy meetings to be held at the bar area at the W Hotel, and way too many luncheons to at the Thirsty Bear Brewery on Howard street.  Some stealthy meetings may be held as far away as the Clift Hotel. 

For those just going for the exhibits, a great number of vendors always have   presentation theatres in their booth areas.  These can be quite educational, as well.  Exhibition pass holders are able to attend the keynotes Tuesday through Friday, I believe.  There are a number of keynote addresses at RSA 2013.  The final keynote this year will be 66^th Secretary of the United States, Condoleezza Rice, on Friday afternoon.   Go to the RSA site to learn about what talks are being give, and who the other keynote speakers are. 

Thursday is the least crowded day in the Exhibition Hall, as vendors will go through the ceremonial exchanging of the tchotchkes with other vendors.  Before going on your own personal tchotchke run, ask yourself, “Do I really need another 15 trade show tee shirts?”  If you do not attend on Tuesday, you will miss the libations being served during the last hour on the first day the exhibition hall is open.

Sponsors for this Year’s RSA 2013 San Francisco

Global Diamond Sponsors – Microsoft, Symantec, and RSA.  Global Platinum Sponsors, Akamai, and Qualys, Global Gold Sponsors – FireEye, splunk, and SafeNet, Platinum Sponsors – Cisco, McAfee, HP, and TrustWave.  There are also Gold and Silver sponsor levels as well.  Visit their booths. Travel the perimeter to view products from companies who lack the budget of the larger companies, may just be starting out, but may also have great products.    

This is your chance to attend a talk by a smaller vendor, then go to a larger vendor and ask, “Can you do A, B, and C?  This smaller vendor can.”    Asking a larger vendor why their products didn’t test as well on the tests performed by  www.virusbtn.com , www.AV-Test.org   and www.AV-comparatives.org  will not get you to the front of the line for any booth giveaways.  At the show, you may be able to view products that range from not so hot, to avg,  to pretty incredible.

Award Events Not Affiliated with RSA But Being Held That Week

SC Magazine will be presenting their SC Awards 2013 Reader Trust, Excellence, and Professional Awards   at a dinner on February 26. There are  over 34 categories this year.  To see a list of some of the finalists, go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2012/02/sc-magazine-awards-2012-winners_29.html

 

Info Security Products Guide will be presenting their 2013 Global Industry excellence awards at a dinner on February 27.  To see a list   of the finalists for this award, go to http://www.infosecurityproductsguide.com/excellence/index.html

 

For the recipients of either these awards - Bragging rights, Product and company recognition, Marketing and promotion opportunities, Logos for their web site.  With a fair degree of certainty,  rest assured that those who have won the previous year but not this year, will not quickly be removing their logos from the web.   sites.

Free Pass – RSA 2013 San Francisco

Entering FXE13AHN at the link below will get you a free RSA 2013 exhibition hall pass.  Stop by the Ahnlab booth, learn about APTs, and tell Ahnlab  thank you.  FX13SPH at the link below will get you a free RSA  2013 exhibition hall pass.  Stop by the Sophos booth and tell them thank you.  As will FXE13ZSC.  Stop by the Zscaler booth and tell them thank you. Expires February 22.

Register: https://ae.rsaconference.com/US13/portal/newreg.ww