Symantec Takes On FireEye, Palo Alto Networks With New Advanced Threat Protection Solution

Symantec is diving into the hotly competitive advanced persistent threat market with the launch of Symantec Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), an offering executives say will displace some of the established competitors in the space.

This is the first major offering launched by the "new" Symantec, which is establishing itself as a stand-alone security vendor after its upcoming Jan. 1 sale of its Veritas storage business. It is only one of about a dozen new products that the vendor expects to organically develop and launch over the next three quarters. This launch, unveiled Tuesday, will set the tone for the offerings partners can expect to come, Chief Marketing Officer Dan Rogers said in an interview with CRN.

"We will put our stamp on the market in security," Rogers said about the significance of the launch. "You will see innovation really starting with this major release around ATP. You will see a drumbeat around innovation that you haven’t really seen from us before."

[Related: 10 Things To Expect From Symantec In Coming Months]

Symantec ATP provides a way for solution providers and clients to detect, prioritize and remediate threats across email, endpoints and the network under a single-pane-of-glass console, instead of using myriad point solutions.

The offering leverages existing Symantec solutions, including the company's extensive threat intelligence network. It also incorporates cloud-based sandbox and detonation service Symantec Cynic for remediation, and cross-control point correlation tool Symantec Synapse for detection. It also is deployed leveraging Symantec Endpoint Protection and Email Security.cloud so it can be installed without any additional agents.

Symantec also plans to add third-party integrations down the road in a variety of areas, including firewall and SIEM.

Those features, Rogers told CRN, are what will set the offering apart in a market with entrenched advanced persistent threat offerings, including big players like FireEye, Trend Micro and Palo Alto Networks, but also mid- and smaller-size security vendors such as Blue Coat, Bit9 + Carbon Black and WatchGuard.

"It's pretty differentiated," Rogers said. "I think it’s a really strong story that looks forward from where everyone is today and takes a leap."

By having a single solution instead of integrated point solutions, Piero DePaoli, senior director of global product marketing for enterprise security, said Symantec is able to eliminate gaps around information correlation and save time for security professionals.

"Even if they get them from [the] same company, they are still siloed solutions," DePaoli said. "That gap, and [the] time it takes to manually correlate that information, is what gives attackers the edge."

For partners, DePaoli said, the benefit is being able to offer a complete security solution from the get-go around the Symantec portfolio, or being able to add on new, more comprehensive features and revenue streams to existing implemented technology. That's something that competitors can't offer to partners, Rogers said.

"They can't get that job done today with the competing products," Rogers said. "We think absolutely in every existing customer, there's a new conversation to have."

Jason Eberhardt, vice president of strategic alliances at Chicago-based Conventus, got a preview of the products to come at the Symantec Partner Engage 2015 event this month. For his business, he said, it is key that Symantec is looking to build out a complete set of security solutions that address current needs in the market.

"They're trying to fill out the entire posture of security for a client," Eberhardt said.

With the company split in particular, Eberhardt said, he is fired up to see the reinvigorated focus on product development from Symantec, which has said it is funneling more than $1 billion into R&D investments. With a sense of the product road map from the event, Eberhardt said, it is clear that Symantec is listening to both clients and partners to fill gaps in its portfolio and the marketplace.

"The products that they have are fantastic," Eberhardt said. "They accent each other. They solve problems. ... Symantec is the one I feel looks at the problems, takes the input in, and learns and understands the need and want [of clients and partners]."

The solution is in beta testing with partners and customers right now, and will be generally available by the end of 2015.

PUBLISHED OCT. 27, 2015