Darrell Rodenbaugh of McAfee talks about the major security challenges faced by SMBs and how to combat them

What are the major security challenges faced by SMBs today and how to combat them?

We think SMBs need to focus on five basic threat vectors. They need to protect the endpoint (servers and workstations) from malware and other threats. 2008 saw a 600% growth in new strains of malware versus 2007, so the threat keeps getting bigger. They need to protect their users from dangers on the web.   They need to protect their users from SPAM --- between 85-95% of the world's email is SPAM and 25% of that contains some malicious code or pushes users to a malicious website. They need to protect their data.  Lastly, companies need to protect their network with effective firewall and intrusion prevention technologies. We believe companies should look to solutions that combine management of these functions into one easy to use, easy to manage suite of products. 

What are the prevailing trends in the security solutions sector?

Unfortunately, we see most vendors continuing to deliver 'point solutions' that address specific security exposures. We also see smaller vendors being acquired by the larger vendors, and in many cases, their customers are forced to make technology changes as a result. Lastly, we see vendors taking products that were built for the enterprise or consumer space, and then try to push those into the SMB arena. Our approach is different — our internal mantra is to deliver solutions that are 'smart, simple and secure', 'smart' with intelligence built into the products; 'simple' - easy to install, easy to manage a broad set of functions from a single console, and developed with the SMB customer in mind; and of course 'secure' -our customers need to be able to go home each night confident they are safe and secure.

Though different vendors offer complete security solutions, many enterprises opt for managed services. What do you think?

Customers' needs are different, and so they need a wide variety of choices. We think the best answer is to deliver the very best protection in the world, and then make it available in each of the form factors so that a customer can choose which makes the most sense for him. For example, we provide email and web protection via software the customer can load onto his own server, as a service in the SaaS model, and as an easy to install and manage appliance. We see more and more customers moving towards SaaS-based solutions and want to continue to provide that option for them.

What security solutions does McAfee offer, especially for SMBs?

McAfee has introduced Total Protection for Secure Business specifically for the SMB customer that wants to manage his own environment.  This suite is the broadest suite available in the market providing endpoint, email, web, and data protection. Total Protection Service is McAfee's SaaS platform providing endpoint, web and email protection designed for the SMB customer that would prefer not to deploy servers and software on their own site.