First published: 30th November 2008
The Internet security industry needs the speed and power provided by cloud computing to be able to respond to the exponentially growing volume of cybercrime. In a recent press release, F-Secure commits itself to developing cloud computing and reputation-based services - harnessing the power of end-user systems and collaborative intelligence in the network to fight cybercrime. This creates a strong, trusted connection between the security provider and the end user, allowing, F-Secure claims, unprecedented quality and speed of protection for its customers.
F-Secure launched its real-time protection network in September 2008. It is an implementation of the in-the-cloud reputation service, capable of supporting several types of security solutions. F-Secure DeepGuard 2.0, which combines local analysis of program behaviour with the use of a real-time protection network for identifying both good and bad software, scored an industry first in the same month with its instant reaction times and global protection against new threats. This is important in today's dramatically changed threat situation where the Internet is facing a deluge of new malware and variants that make traditional heuristics or signature-based solutions just too inefficient and slow.
Pirkka Palomäki, Chief Technology Officer at F-Secure, said, "Our real-time protection network is based on in-the-cloud computing. It has been designed to support a wider range of security services than just antivirus and F-Secure is now further enhancing many of its services to use the power of cloud computing".
Palomäki continued, "Looking towards the future, F-Secure's real-time protection network has the architecture and potential for checking the reputation of any objects, such as applications, sites, documents or even phone numbers. It provides more nuanced information, for example whether an application is 'productive' or 'violent'."
F-Secure says that this progression into cloud computing is natural for the company and considers it critical for addressing future threats. F-Secure has been building in-the-cloud protection for years. Its first form was been the creation and maintenance of Network Operation Centres globally since 2001, which laid the groundwork for the real-time protection network. Actual in-the-cloud protection has been implemented since 2006 with F-Secure's antiphishing services that use network-based verification of threats.
T. Sean Obrey, F-Secure's Head of ISP Business, says, "We have over 170 partners globally and network operation centres on all continents. These global networking services and solutions have been developed to support our business. It is very natural step for us to now provide our protection services, via our Service Provider partners, to their end customers using the cloud experience that we continue to develop."
The F-Secure real-time protection network is currently being used by F-Secure DeepGuard 2.0 which is included in the F-Secure Internet Security 2009 and F-Secure Anti-Virus 2009 consumer security products, as well as the corporate F-Secure Client Security 8 solution and others being launched this year.