Focus 2010: Dave DeWalt lays out plans for 'McAfee 3.0'

LAS VEGAS: McAfee chief executive Dave DeWalt has outlined an initiative for what the company calls 'McAfee 3.0'.

DeWalt explained during his keynote at the 2010 Focus conference in Las Vegas that the company's latest incarnation will match McAfee's security platforms with hardware from new parent company Intel to provide deeper levels of security.

The vision involves McAfee tools protecting IT infrastructures not only at the PC and server software level, but in the network appliance, embedded system and cloud computing spaces.

DeWalt said that the "silicon to satellite" strategy will secure every type of endpoint, from the desktop CPU to satellite communications hardware.

The aim is to cover the expanding range of devices and services being introduced into IT environments as people adopt new platforms and additional systems become connected to networks.

"You are only as strong as your weakest link," DeWalt said. "If it's connected to your architecture and your network, it can be hacked."

Intel will play a key role in the McAfee 3.0 push. The chipmaker acquired McAfee in August for £4.9bn, and Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said that the two firms will partner on new security projects.

"The number of new security threats every month continues to rise and, as a result, security has become the third pillar of computing," he said. "We believe security will be most effective when it is enabled in hardware."