McAfee beats Symantec and Kaspersky to all-in-one security

McAfee

McAfee has beaten its major competitors in the race to get an all-in-one security product on the market, protecting Macs, PCs, smartphones and tablets.

McAfee All Access has been made available from today, coming out before Kaspersky One and Norton One, all of which look to protect the plethora of devices used by consumers.

Kaspersky's product is due out in October, whilst the Symantec offering will not be available until 2012, according to reports.

Most consumer households now own a combination of PCs, Macs, and mobile devices, but haven't kept up-to-date by adequately protecting all of them.

"We're excited to launch McAfee All Access today to meet increasing consumer demand for a single solution that safeguards users' internet-connected devices and protects their digital lifestyles," said Todd Gebhart, co-president of McAfee.

"Users now have the protection they need without having to make buying decisions for each and every one of their devices - or go through the hassle of dealing with individual licenses each time they want to add or eliminate a device."

All Access costs 69.99 for individuals and 99.99 for the household version. Security features in the product include lock and wipe capabilities for mobile devices, as well as anti-virus, anti-spyware and a firewall.

IT departments want workers to use the best protection possible at home, as well as in the workplace, as infections can easily spread. Indeed, the consumerisaton of IT has been on the minds of many security vendors over the past few years.

"Most consumer households now own a combination of PCs, Macs, and mobile devices, but haven't kept up-to-date by adequately protecting all of them," Gebhart added.

"As consumers become more aware of the threats to their connected devices and the need to protect them, cost and complexity often keep them from doing so."

Such anti-virus products will not protect against all threats, however. Some in the security industry have argued the signature system used by the likes of Symantec and McAfee is out of date as it will not provide real-time protection against zero-day threats.

Read on for our look at why the security old guard are under attack from the minnows of the industry.

Tom Brewster

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.