McAfee Web-enables ePolicy Console

UPDATED: McAfee on Monday released a beta version of ePolicy Orchestrator 4.0, its centralized policy enforcement and reporting tool. One of the major changes in version 4.0 is that it has shifted from a Windows-based client control to a Web-based client, but there is also emphasis on reporting, simplicity and expanding the policies covered.

ePolicy Orchestrator is part of the company’s McAfee Total Protection management suite. The company claims more than 30,000 customers and nearly 54 million PCs and servers are served by the software.

McAfee’s chief competitor in software security, Symantec, is about to come out with its own security and compliance management product, codenamed Project Hamlet. It will feature antivirus software along with technologies acquired from Sygate Technologies and Whole Security.

Vimal Solanki, senior director of worldwide product marketing at McAfee , said customers want three things: one, comply with industry regulations quicker; two, improve security because the threats are getting worse, and three, “Help me with accomplishing #1 and #2 without spending a fortune,” he joked.

“This ties in people, processes and technology, so you can give access to people who need it, just what they need and make it easier to do,” Solanki told internetnews.com.

The new Web-based console will enable customers to have ready access to their customized console without having to install any software on their systems, and be able to access it from just about anywhere.

It will be dashboard-based and custom configurable, so reports can be scheduled and emailed. Also, the dashboard can be configured so that a person only sees what they should see, based on security or other concerns.

Reporting has been enhanced to include compliance reporting and how well a company meets it. This covers both government regulation – Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPPA, GLBA, Basel – as well as a company’s own internal compliance policies.

“McAfee is integrating all the functionality we’re looking for from threat protection to compliance management, and we’re confident that they will continue adding new capabilities to address changes in our business as we grow,” said Christian Phillips information security officer at Regulus Group, the largest independent payment processor in the United States in a statement.