Symantec today announced plans for a Web-based console to centrally administer Macintosh clients licensed for Symantec’s Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh 9.0.
The Symantec administration console for Macintosh is planned to provide centralized antivirus management for OS X clients, ensuring up-to-date protection across multiple platform network environments.
Using the Symantec administration console for Macintosh, IT administrators will have the ability to manage the most critical central administrative functions for distributing and updating clients protected with Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh 9.0. IT administrators will be able to audit the machine name, location, software version installed and latest virus definitions update of each Macintosh on their network without relying on user action. In addition, the console is being designed to provide a view of the most recent viruses found on each Macintosh within the network along with the ten most prevalent viruses.
“Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh 9.0, with the administrative console, will be the ideal solution for organizations that have a heterogeneous PC and Macintosh environment,” said Stephen Cullen, senior vice president, security products and solutions, Symantec. “IT Administrators will be able to use the centralized administration functionality to update Macintosh clients with antivirus protection, confirming that their Mac’s are protected and their network is secure.”
“We are excited about Symantec’s continued support for Mac OS X,” said Ron Okamoto, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “Symantec’s administration console for Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh 9.0 will offer a great, centralized antivirus management tool for Mac OS X clients protecting the network environments of our enterprise customers.”
The Symantec administration console for Macintosh is planned to offer the following functions:
— LiveUpdate virus definition and product updates on demand or scheduled.
— Deployment of Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh.
— Configuration changes pushed to Macintosh clients.
— Lock-down settings for the client to prevent users from changing preferences, such as canceling a virus scan or uninstalling the Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh client.
— Storage of client data in the central MySQL database included with Mac OS X Server software. IT administrators can access the information via the SQL Database.
— Production of standard and customized reports easily accessible via the Web interface.
— Convenient, easy to use administration console that is accessible from any Web browser.
Definition updates will be delivered by the Symantec Security Response team, which provides fast, global, integrated analysis and response.
Availability
The Symantec administrative console for Macintosh is planned to be available in November 2004. Symantec customers with current applicable maintenance using Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition 8.x, Symantec AntiVirus Enterprise Edition 8.x and Norton AntiVirus Corporate Edition 9.0 will receive information on how to request the CD.
