Symantec Adds VeriSign Services To Protection Center Management Platform

Symantec has announced the integration of VeriSign authentication products into Protection Center, its platform for unified management, intelligence and automation of Symantec and third-party partner security tools. The announcement means that users will be able to manage VeriSign Managed PKI, VeriSign Managed PKI for SSL and VeriSign Identity Protection (VIP) Authentication Service from a single console.

The addition of the VeriSign security services, acquired by Symantec last May, to the growing portfolio of products managed by Symantec Protection Center (SPC) is the first major step in building authentication services into Symantec's existing security tools and strengthening the company's brand, says Nicolas Popp, VP of product development for VeriSign Authentication Services. For example, he is looking ahead to VeriSign authentication being integrated into Symantec's endpoint protection products. In addition, the Symantec logo now incorporates the familiar Trust Seal.

"We will have a mechanism to propagate two-factor authentication in the enterprise and perhaps for the consumer," says Popp. "Your mobile phone, desktop or laptop, home computer can be authentication devices, your natural token." The authentication services fill a gap in Symantec's product portfolio, which has been lacking in user identity tools, he adds.

The integrated VeriSign products are:
- Managed PKI for SSL, which provides centralized control and delegated administration for managing large numbers of digital certificates and issuance by multiple administrators across different organizations or business units.
- Managed PKI Service, a PKI certificate management and authentication service designed for rapid deployment and integration into existing network infrastructures. It is available for heterogeneous operating systems and platforms, or Windows and Active Directory.
- VeriSign Identity Protection (VIP) Authentication Service, a cloud-based authentication service that enables enterprises to secure online access and transactions requiring a dynamic one-time-use, six-digit security code generated by a user's VIP credential.

Other Symantec products managed by SPC include Endpoint Protection, Data Loss Prevention, Critical System Protection, Brightmail Gateway, Web Gateway and Network Access Control.In addition to providing a unified management console and single sign-on capabilities, SPC provides intelligence by gathering and analyzing data from the managed tools, as well as global information from Symantec's Global Intelligence Network, to analyze threats and vulnerabilities and prioritize remediation, such as patching and threat mitigation. SPC can be integrated with change control tools, such as ticketing systems, for vulnerability remediation.

Third-party products can be certified through Symantec's partner program, so that they can be managed through the SPC console and add their data feeds to the intelligence analysis.

"Security intelligence brings all the Symantec and third-party tool data together," says Jason Rolleston, director, product management, for Protection Center. "You combine local information with global intelligence to determine what is relevant and what action to take, to drive response."