McAfee: Data Theft Results in Trillion-Dollar Losses
With data theft and loss constantly in the news, one security company is stressing the implications of unsecured computer files.
McAfee, the CA-based software best known for its consumer anti-virus offerings, is trying to get consumers, corporations and government organizations to take data security more seriously. According to the software maker, malware increased by a staggering 400 percent in 2008.
"This was a very insidious type of malware that was designed either to steal your data, steal your identity, steal your money, and in many cases the scale as well as the sophistication was very alarming," said McAfee CEO David DeWalt during the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. According to McAfee's international security survey of over 800 companies, 80 percent of said business claimed that malware found on their systems had the intention of maliciously gathering financial information.
Traditionally, malware is created for the purpose of stealing financial data, in contrast to viruses and trojans, which cause more general damage to a system. In the same survey, 42 percent of the same businesses claimed that fired or laid off personnel were the primary security concern. Furthermore, those companies surveyed have an average of $12 million in data stored outside of their home country.
The largest data debacle to make headlines in recent years was that of retailer TJX, which agreed to pay Mastercard $24 million after the company had a security breach that exposed millions of its customers. Last week, a second-hand MP3 player purchased in Oklahoma was found to contain sensitive U.S. military data. With flash drives and MP3 players becoming so inexpensive and dispensable, the security of private data is now more difficult to maintain than ever.
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What's the cost of the additional power consumption of PCs running McAfee or Symantec security apps?
i have mcafee it doesnt take a lot of ram in background i think its really god Plus im getting it for free from comcast
good*
McAfee? Never.
That is one oofthe worst companies in that type of business!
I notified McAfee several times about serious "defects" of their products, and they were totally unintrested.
The McAfee for years and knowingly sold products which stall CPU and require reinstallation of operating system, or computer would never boot!
The worst products one can buy that is Symantek, and McAfee!
I know, they know, many people know, and now you know it to.
Stay away from that crap!
I think McAffe is exaggerating simply to act like they are the solution to the problem. While data theft certainly is a real concern its certainly something that can be combated with simple knowledge and common sense.
Lets face it when corporations get infected with malware its because the employs aren't doing what they should be in the first place. Why heavy restrictions aren't placed on the workers computers is beyond me.
A program to combat it like McAffe isn't the answer. It does not protect you against new threats until its updates which can and probably will be to late with how often new malware pops up. All you have to do to avoid such things is to be educated and know whats safe and what isn't.
Why would you have private information that you want secure on a network connected to the internet? Even if it were to be infected, through some idiot with a USB drive, it still wouldn't be able to send out any information.
If I sold coffee I'd tell you it helps fight cancer, if I sold nicotine patches I'd tell you they improve your memory and concentration, and if I sold McAffe I'd tell you that if you didn't install it right now you would lose everything you owned to online predators in the next 24 minutes. They just got your due to your browsing of Tom's. You're doomed.
*IP
if you want the best firewall for your pc or laptop,get zonealarm pro, and for free antivirus you get the avg
Nod32. 'Nuff said.
ESET NOD32=Awesomeness.
If NOD32 had an easier to use suite of security tools, and better branding and advertisement, they'd be #1. But through testing, I found Symantec Antivirus/Endpoint Protection (Both are corperate suites with corperate prices) to be the best readily avaliable Antivirus for both normal detection and firewall, along with zero day and intrusion detection. (Endpoint does the firewall, zero day, and intrusion)
if you want the best firewall for your pc or laptop,get zonealarm pro, and for free antivirus you get the avg
Yes if you want crap and garbage AVG and ZONEALARM!!!! the two products that normaly get poor reviews when it comes to really extensive testing by any website that i have gone to. AVG and Avast never even make the top 10. unless its top ten "hi im a cheap ass i cant even buy some anti virus" crapware.
Anyways i tried NOD32 64bit after a month it stopped allowing me to run programs other then 64bit and the only solution was to uninstall it that i could find.
After watching websites for a few years i have noticed Bitdeffender has been hitting that #1 spot on almost all of them almost every year. So i got that and havent had any malfunctions thus far. Though its hard to tell if your security is because of such programs since most crap that gets on your computer is user installed either by opening , installing , or clicking yes on something. Its amazing how much would stop if users would just take a few minutes to learn something. Though i never used norton corp the normal end user edition wasnt bad it just didnt rank has high as bitdefender did so yeah
I've been using Vista 64 for about 10 months now without any virus protection. I don't visit dangerous sites and haven't had any problems. That isn't to say that I'm not infected, but I don't seem to have any problems. I download free utilities (RealTemp, Orthos, CPUz, etc.) only from sites that I trust.
I realize that my needs are different than a corporation with millions of dollars in data. There's nothing that a format and reinstall couldn't fix. I usually format and reinstall once a year anyway just to clear up the registry and get the OS working like new again.
Most of these programs aren't native 64bit. As 64bit becomes more and more mainstream, there will be more viruses targeted towards these systems. To bad Microsoft can't just make an OS and browser that is secure.
All antivirus softwares have their strenghts and weaknesses but none of them will surpass common sense and safe browsing. I'm not saying you should go without an antivirus, but if you're smart enough not to browse suspicious sites or open files you get from unknown senders (honnestly, it's pretty easy to figure out when it's a spam/virus), you can just install a basic free antivirus and you'll be fine.
It's a different scenario for companies and corporations though, where you just can't have enough security.