Symantec, the company behind such products as Norton SystemWorks and Norton Internet Security, is a sponsor of the National Cyber Security Alliance’s Stay Safe Online campaign, an effort by several public agencies and businesses to educate home and small business users about how the importance of securing their computers is related to protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure.
The National Cyber Security Alliance is a new partnership of government and industry members aligned with the common goal of educating Americans on the need for computer security as an aspect of homeland defense.
“As the Internet becomes more ubiquitous, a Smokey-the-Bear type public service campaign to raise awareness about the importance of Internet security is long overdue in this nation,” John Thompson, chairman and CEO of Symantec, said in announcing their sponsorship of the Stay Safe Online campaign.
Symantec will give the first of the campaign’s series of six online presentations that can be accessed at the campaign’s Web site. Entitled “Protect Your Computer, Protect Your Country’s Cyber Infrastructure,” by Stephen Trilling, senior director of Advanced Concepts for Symantec, the series will focus on how consumers and small businesses can protect the nation’s critical infrastructure by making sure their computers and networks have the proper Internet security precautions installed to defend against viruses and worms or having their computer used without their knowledge to launch cyber attacks.
In addition to the tech talk, Symantec’s logo on the campaign’s Web site will be linked to Symantec Security Check, a free online service that automatically identifies and addresses online safety threats to Mac and PC systems. Symantec Security Check can also be accessed from Symantec’s Web site.
Security Check is a free Web-hosted vulnerability assessment tool, providing users with info about where their particular computer is vulnerable to viruses, hackers and privacy threats. After performing the evaluation, Symantec Security Check then offers recommendations for securing that computer against those threats.