Well, what a year 2014 has been and the next 12 months are likely to be just as transformational and exciting for Symantec, as we separate into two, independent publicly traded companies: one business focused on consumer and enterprise security, and the other on business focused on information management. Why is it happening? Because we believe it will help us all better serve our customer's needs now and well into the future. We are confident it will also make us much stronger and more successful.
There’s a lot of work to be done along the way, of course, as we gear up to that transformation. As our new CEO Mike Brown has stated: "until we complete the spinoff, which we expect to occur by the end of December 2015, Symantec will continue to operate as one company". With your support, we want to make sure that our commitment to customers and partners has not, and will not, change, so we are fully focused on customer satisfaction throughout this process. (You can find more information on our Symantec strategy site).
On which note, it’s been a hectic and trying time for those who rely on our technology – because the mantra for those intent on infiltrating their systems and organizations seems to have been: ‘Attack! Attack! Attack!’ We’ve seen wave after wave of malware and cyber espionage tools unleashed and we’ve had to respond rapidly to help keep our customers safe. Here are just a couple of the headline makers in 2014 :
- The highly destructive Backdoor.Destover, subject of an FBI Flash Warning. We identified this malware as having several links to earlier attacks directed at targets in South Korea, suggesting that the same group may be behind both attacks.
- Regin: an advanced spying tool, Regin displays a degree of technical competence rarely seen and has been used in spying operations against governments, infrastructure operators, businesses, researchers, and private individuals.
To learn more about Regin and why this is another great example of Symantec's broad security intelligence capabilities, check out our blog and the Security Response Whitepaper.
As we all know mobile is how businesses everywhere now work—and live – delivering productivity anytime, anywhere. This is why we have made some significant enhancements to our product portfolio with Symantec Mobility: Suite.
We have also made some exciting announcements with regards to our Information Management business. On November 19th, Symantec and HP announced a joint initiative to develop, sell, market, deliver, and support a cloud-based service called HP Helion and Symantec Continuity based on HP Helion OpenStack.
Also take a look at our video series where Drew Meyer, Sr. Director of Information Management for Symantec, discusses the way holistic data center solutions can help companies embrace agility without fear.
You can tune in to a blow-by-blow account of what else has been happening in 2014 here:
- Business updates and information on our partner program
- Latest product updates and news from our STAR team
So, that was the year to which we are about to say farewell. What's coming our way in 2015?
We will be telling you more on the separation of the business as we progress along that path. Meanwhile, here is a flavour of what we are most likely to see over the next 12 months, as we gaze into the (albeit slightly hazy!) crystal ball – courtesy of Symantec’s key security experts:
- Electronic-payment methods will come into the crosshairs. Also, there is a possibility of hackers exploiting individual NFC cards in one-off attacks, warns Candid Wüest, Threat Researcher, Symantec Security Response.
- Coordinated cyber-espionage and cyber-sabotage attacks will continue to pose a risk to national and critical infrastructure and intellectual property in 2015, says Orla Cox, Symantec Security Response.
- Finally, the much heralded ‘Internet of Things’ will still be the ‘Internet of Vulnerabilities’, although attacks will be limited and one-off, says Candid Wüest, With IoT being largely data-generated, we’ll continue to see examples of how cybercriminals can exploit software vulnerabilities in connected devices.
Undoubtedly, in the year ahead, customers will rely even more on our expertise and support, in the face of such challenges.
On which note, we would like to thank you the analyst community for making 2014 such a great year for Symantec. Season’s greetings to one and all and we look forward to working with you once more in 2015.
Caroline Dennington & Phil Nash