Symantec to send analysts to users to counter threats

Symantec has exapnded its security support services to offer its customers Symantec security experts on-site to carry out on-demand research and threat mitigation. It's not a cheap option though - support starts at $325,000(£197,000) and could rise to more than $1 million.

"These threat analysts are dedicated to a particular customer," says Ted Donat, director of product management for Symantec's global consulting services. Dubbed the Cyber Threat Analysis Program, the service places Symantec analysts within an enterprise to conduct analysis and help customers with the mitigation of attacks.

In this outsourcing capacity, the analysts are prepared to use either Symantec's security-event information management tools or third-party security products to carry out risk-assessment. The analysts also have remote access to Symantec's global monitoring and threat-intelligence data and other available sources, Donat said.

The goal is to have the resident Symantec analyst able to identify and respond rapidly to network-security events, including discerning false positives from serious attacks.

Tim Gallo, Symantec's technical product manager, said Symantec was initiating the outsourcing programme because "we're seeing requests for this from clients in sensitive environments, like critical infrastructure." Other potential customers include government agencies and the transportation industry, and systems integrators are also making requests for skilled Symantec analysts, Gallo said.