Security tool aimed at large agencies

Symantec Corp. has announced its new enterprise security product, which aims to protect information on remote and mobile users' systems.

The Symantec Desktop Firewall 2.0 is built on the company's firewall technology from its consumer Norton Personal Firewall released last December. However, the Desktop Firewall is intended for use in a large corporate or agency environment, allowing an administrator to maintain centralized security control and updating options.

At the same time, the product provides security for several types of environments, taking into account the fact that some users will be on agency-provided laptops or desktops while others will be simply using their own home systems.

For most remote users, the key is ensuring that security applications does not get in the way of their work, making them decide to turn off the security in favor of performance, said Nat Maple, senior product manager for Symantec's enterprise solutions division. Symantec designed the Desktop Firewall to stay as far in the background as possible, so even when there is an update to be installed the administrator can make sure the user does not notice any change in performance.

"We've put a lot of time to making sure it is very non-intrusive to the user," Maple said.

Symantec has also worked hard to ensure that the Desktop Firewall will work with any application being used, including customized applications that are not commercial off-the-shelf products, Maple said. Administrators can use a kit to modify the product to work with their customized applications.