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Exiting workers taking confidential data with them

As layoffs continue apace, a survey released on Monday shows what many companies fear--exiting workers are taking a lot more with them than just their personal plants and paperweights.

Of about 950 people who said they had lost or left their jobs during the last 12 months, nearly 60 percent admitted to taking confidential company information with them, including customer contact lists and other data that could potentially end up in the hands of a competitor for the employee's next job stint.

"I don't think these people see themselves as being thieves or as stealing," said … Read more

Symantec debuts Norton Online Family

UPDATED: Corrected list of supported messaging protocols.

Known for its security software, Symantec on Tuesday launched a new program aimed at educating parents about their children's online usage. Norton Online Family, now available in beta, is a parental control suite with multiple levels of restriction and an emphasis on usage reporting.

Citing a Rochester Institute of Technology study that found a huge gap between the percentage of parents versus children who report no online supervision, Symantec says that Online Family is intended to bridge that gap by "fostering communication" between parents and their kids. According to the … Read more

Ask partners with Symantec on security ratings for Web searches

Search engine Ask is partnering with Symantec to offer Web surfers ratings on the safety level of sites in search results, the companies were set to announce on Tuesday.

Sites will be rated with a color-coded icon in one of four colors--green for safe, yellow for risky, red for unsafe, and gray for unknown, said Andrew Moers, president of Ask Partner Network. Moving the cursor over the icon will display more information about the rating.

Unsafe sites are ones that pretend to be something they are not and shopping sites that lack security or where the merchants aren't reputable, … Read more

Report: Symantec CEO is top commerce secretary candidate

Updated 4:25 p.m. PST with reaction from tech industry representatives in Washington, D.C.

John Thompson, outgoing chief executive of security company Symantec, is being considered for the post of secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, according to a news wire report on Tuesday.

"He (Thompson) is the leading candidate," Reuters quoted an unidentified senior Democratic source as saying. "He is still being vetted."

Thompson, who announced in November that he would step down in April, held several fund-raisers for Obama at his Silicon Valley home.

"John has always kept his … Read more

Symantec virtualization tech turns 1 PC into 3

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California -- Symantec is turning to virtualization and cloud computing to protect Web surfers and let them access Web-based applications from one site.

The company demonstrated the technologies, along with another one designed to block malware from getting into corporate networks, to reporters and briefed them on its research and development strategy at an event it dubbed "Innovation Showcase" on Wednesday.

Virtualization technology that essentially creates different machines on the same computer offers a good platform for securing PCs by providing different protected environments, said Joe Pasqua, vice president of research at Symantec Research Labs.

Taking advantage of this trend, … Read more

Symantec continues to bet on R&D

Everyone in the technology industry should be sure to read this recent article in BusinessWeek that discusses current problems with the Silicon Valley business model and ideas for improvement. The article suggests that VCs and many firms are too concerned with short-term financial exit strategies rather than real investment in R&D.

Just after I read this article, I happened to meet with Symantec about a new project coming out of its internal incubator called Go Everywhere. Go Everywhere is an online workspace that actually aggregates other services from Web sites like Box.net, Google, and Zoho. In other … Read more

The smartphone buzz in '09? It's not a product

There's already a lengthy wish list as users ponder the invention of the "ideal" smartphone in 2009. All well and good. But I submit that next year's most important technology development won't have anything to do with a new feature or application.

Instead, it's going to boil down to whether mobile device makers open smartphones as widely as the personal computer. Manufactures and carriers, scared to death about the possible security implications, may decide that it's wiser to instead keep their devices closed. How long they can ignore the pressure is unclear.

That'… Read more

Symantec, VMware team up for disaster recovery

Symantec is going to collaborate with VMware to sell its disaster-recovery products for virtual environments.

For mutual customers, VMware ESX will be integrated with Symantec's Veritas Cluster Server (VCS) disaster-recovery product. Support will be provided through TSANet, a database that participating vendors use to coordinate support responses, and exchange support information.

"VMware is pleased to see Symantec deliver solutions like VCS that integrate with and complement the value of VMware virtualization," Shekar Ayyar, vice president of infrastructure alliances at VMware, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Symantec's VCS is designed to protect applications from unplanned downtime … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 863: Get me off this orb

News of the Yahoo demographic's searching habits arouses a sudden love for space in Brian Cooley today. Also, the Nokia N97 gets a chilly reception, especially in light of all those delectably cheap Netbooks flooding the market. Pownce disappears, Apple suddenly starts recommending antivirus for Mac users, and Microsoft claims the Xbox 360 pwned Black Friday.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 863

iPhone beware, the Nokia N97 is coming (PC World) http://tech.yahoo.com/news/pcworld/20081202/tc_pcworld/iphonebewarethenokian97iscoming http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10110873-1.html http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1274500

Netbooks dominate cyber-Monday, at … Read more