THE market has witnessed an increasing number of security solution companies as online threats become more pervasive.

The broadband growth in Asia Pacific including Japan, has provided many opportunities for such companies to compete in providing what they claimed to be the best security solutions to consumers.

" It is a challenge for the players but at the end of the day, it is like buying a car insurance ... whether you want the cheap one or not, and the cheaper one of course is less comprehensive," said Symantec Asia Pacific Pte Ltd vice-president of consumer sales, David Freer.

Symantec is the world leader in providing solutions to help individuals and enterprises assure the security, availability, and integrity of their information.

It is the fourth largest independent software company in the world and has operations in more than 40 countries with 475 out of Fortune's global 500 companies using their solutions.

Freer told Business Times that online threats are increasing these days, with 10,000 new website infections every day and the last six months have "seen an explosive growth in the number of threats".

"This has led to a strong growth of competition in the market," he said, adding that Symantec's Norton Internet security is always ready to be ahead of the market in terms of providing a complete solution.

"We are a security specialist and Norton being the world's first consumer security brand offers consumers a ubiquitous product, whereas a traditional security software may only be able to protect your PCs against virus and spyware," he added.

There are currently 50 million users of Norton Antivirus, which is a leading brand in Malaysia.

Symantec recently launched its Norton Internet Security 2009 and Norton Antivirus 2009, two products designed with a zero-impact performacne goal, supported by more than 300 improvements from the scanning engines to the user interface.

"It will take you less than one minute and just one click to install," Freer said, adding that the latest technology removes the need to scan common files and deliver the latest protection updates faster than any other competitor.

Installation will take only 52 seconds, and uses less than 7MB while scanning will only take 33 seconds.

Freer said Symantec will also launch a parental control web application meant for parents to set the time their children go online. It will also offer a back-up programme product that will automatically do security-related backup for subscribers, allowing them to access their data anywhere there are.

"We will launch these in the next six to nine months," he said.

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