Anyone who has lost a cell phone and worried about contact information about friends and family — or maybe potentially embarrassing photos — falling into the wrong hands will appreciate the ability, with one text message, to wipe a wayward handset clean.
That’s just one of the features of Symantec’s Norton Everywhere initiative, which the company hopes will move its popular security software from PCs to other devices that increasingly access the Internet, from smartphones to Blu-ray players, smart TVs, home security systems, digital cameras, and even picture frames.
At this stage of the game, few people have had a virus on their smartphone or e-book reader, or had information hacked. But Symantec wants to keep it that way with initiatives for mobile safety, web safety, and device embedded services.
The company, best known for its Norton Utilities suite, demonstrated Norton Everywhere at its annual investor conference in New York on Thursday. In the next few weeks the company will release beta versions of Norton Smartphone Security for Android, Norton Connect, and Norton DNS.
“We are entering a new era where non-PC devices are exploding in numbers, which means more opportunity for cybercriminals,” said Janice Chaffin, president of Symantec’s Consumer Business Unit. “It’s becoming more and more critical for consumers to be protected beyond their PCs.”
“The Norton Everywhere initiative takes a broad view of how Norton can deliver trust and high value to consumers and address evolving market needs,” Chaffin said. “Symantec’s breadth of resources, partnerships, global reach, and brand recognition make it uniquely able to deliver security and more to any Internet-connected device in the world.”
Michael Gartenberg of the technology consulting firm Altimeter Group said the company is looking at issues related to specific types of devices.
“If you see their offering, it’s not about virus or malware,” he said….