Wired for security
Published: 16 Sep 2004 15:40 BST
When will heuristics-based 3G phone antivirus protection appear?
We are looking at between 2005 and 2006.
How does the service provider get the antivirus application into the phone?
That's the million-dollar question: Whether service providers are going to give it as part of their service, or charge the consumer and offer a premium service... We are still working on that, but it really doesn't matter to us.
What's the cost, or should we say value, of phone protection to the service provider?
It depends on whether the service provider wants their operating environment available and reliable all the time so that they can keep on billing. And that's the whole game here because they want these phones to be constantly available. If their customers can't use the phones because of an attack, then they lose revenue.
Do you see PC-type viruses going to 3G devices?
No doubt, because it is just another device on the Internet. And you see what people do with 3G devices... They do stock quotes, email, whatever. And they will be hit by PC viruses.
How big will the 3G phone protection market be?
It will be enormous. I've seen the projections of the growth of 3G phones over the next few years, and even if those projections are only half right, this will be an enormous market. Just start by considering the fact that NTT DoCoMo has 39 million users in Japan today. And that's just a small fraction. We are seeing great interest from other 3G phone companies and service providers.
You are also working on protecting voice over IP?
Yes we are. And that's an enormous area. On my flight here from New York, I was reading a New York Times article, which reported that a lot of companies are experiencing disruptions for VoIP infrastructure because of viruses and attacks. So we are starting to see that that's the next big area for attack.
Is that surprising for you?
No. Again, it's Internet-enabled phones, so why wouldn't the same attacks affect the VoIP environment?
How has McAfee done in Asia?
Asia-Pacific is one of our fastest growing areas. We grew more than 50 percent in McAfee in the second quarter in Asia-Pacific, compared to 22 percent worldwide in the same quarter. We don't give out growth for specific regions but we think Asia Pacific can grow faster than our overall business over the remainder of the year. Asia Pacific has been a key early adopter of our new technologies, and our new blocking appliances like IntruShield.
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