Symantec gets its protection message across by hook or by crook.

Making sure that wayward journalists get the properly authorised media message is a challenge for any PR team - but this week's Vision 2007 conference indicates that Symantec appears has developed new tactics in the war against non-conformist reporting.

A pressroom is traditionally supposed to be a bastion of free and lucid thought, a refuge from the constant barrage of mission statements that fill the corridors and meeting rooms around it.

No respite here though, where the media lounge is dominated by a central column of screens and speakers which bark out Symantec's EndPoint Protection 11.0 marketing sound bites at regular intervals. Much like the speakers of Universal and Beautiful Truth must have once done (and maybe still do) on Tiananmen square in Communist China.

None of which should come as any surprise from a company that has made security its business, despite Symantec's more recent forays into storage and storage management through the buyouts of Veritas and others.

The newly announced EndPoint Protection 11.0 solution is an all singing, all dancing approach to enterprise lock-down. It is designed to force users into complying with security policy through a combination of centrally administered application and device control tools, alongside anti-virus, anti-spyware, desktop firewall, host and network intrusion prevention software, combined with the Network Access Control 11.0 solution, previously codenamed 'Hamlet'.

Whether this two-pronged approach will compare favourably to rival products from McAfee, Microsoft and Trend Micro is anybody's guess, but if Symantec wants us too, it might make us believe anything in the end.

It may be significant that Vision 2007 is being held in Las Vegas' mind bending Venetian Hotel, which has a unique line in making sure visitors get as little sleep as possible. The place features a indoor approximation of St Mark's square complete with an 'always on' representation of Venice daylight in the roof which confuses and disorientates those underneath it, whilst oxygen is reputedly pumped through the air vents to make sure everybody stays awake and in constant listening mode.

13 Jun 2007