New-Age Hackers Force Symantec and McAfee to Scramble for Better Solutions

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A rise in attacks by hackers in 2011 is showing limits of an older generation of security software from Symantec Corp. (www.symantec.com) and McAfee Inc. (www.mcafee.com) and is placing pressure on these high-tech companies to upgrade products.

These and similar companies are seeking to keep up with cloud computing and the growth of workers plugging mobile devices into networks. According to Johannes Ullrich, a researcher at the SANS Technology Institute (www.sans.edu), none of the recent attacks tied to hacker groups such as Anonymous and Lulz Security could have been repelled by traditional antivirus programs or firewall software.

George Kurtz, who is the current chief technology officer at McAfee, now part of Intel Corp. (www.intel.com), expressed his concern by comparing the current predicament to a “security Armageddon” which is also of great concern for end users and customers.