Built-in Security, Device Authentication Top Concerns for Global CIOs, PC and Device Manufacturers At Annual Phoenix Strategy Conference

Business Wire, Dec 2, 2004

MILPITAS, Calif. -- Former CIA Director Woolsey and Senator Slade Gorton Speak To Nearly 200 Global Digital Device Industry Leaders

62 percent of global Original Device Manufacturers (ODMs) Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and enterprise and government CIOs believe that network Security and Device Authentication will have the biggest technology impact on product development and delivery in 2005, a recent survey revealed.

The survey of more than 200 high-tech industry leaders, was conducted last week by Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:PTEC) at its annual Strategy 2005 Conference to determine the priorities of technology and security initiatives by manufacturers, enterprises and governments. The survey also revealed that 46 percent of these leaders picked device level security as one of the most important security measures for IT departments in 2005, and 40 percent of the respondents believed that improved device and data recovery capabilities would provide the best "bang for the buck" of today's security initiatives.

The Phoenix Strategy Conference, now in its 16th year, has long served as a bellwether of trends and issues for PC and digital device makers and users. The conference keynote speakers this year included: Slade Gorton, former U.S. Senator and Chairman of the Federal 9/11 Commission; R. James Woolsey, former Director of the CIA; and Dr. Kevin Kettler, Chief Technology Officer for Dell's Product Group.

Panels and Attendees Focus on Security and Recovery

At the Phoenix Strategy Conference, presenters and attendees from across the digital device community were united by two key imperatives: security must be built into the products they buy; and those products must be easy to use. Conference sessions focused on the importance of recovery in the always-on age; the development of "secure from the start" solutions to protect networks, users and devices; and the evolving security and ease of use issues in the digital home.

During the conference, a panel of CIOs and chief security officers (CSOs) expressed concerns about the amount of time spent on securing applications and managing patches in an engaging information exchange and agreement on the approach of enterprise security development for the future. The CIOs and CSOs challenged the attendees to make security an inherent and integrated part of their products, and to make those products operate seamlessly within company networks and transparently for users. When asked what keeps them up at night, the group honed in on device identification and authentication; Sarbanes-Oxley compliance; the emergence of spyware; business continuity; control of network access by third parties; and protection of intellectual property.

This panel was just one part of a multi-faceted Phoenix Strategy 2005 program that examined the issues confronting businesses and consumers as networking technologies open up new productivity options as well as new threats. The nearly 200 attendees at the by-invitation only forum heard repeatedly about the need for a multi-layer approach to address security threats.

"It was clear from the conference sessions and private discussions that device authentication and built-in security were top-of-mind with attendees and the focus of many of the analysts in their prediction session," said Tim Bajarin, conference moderator and principal analyst, Creative Strategies. "If we are going to thwart the continued onslaught of worms, viruses and other breaches to security, we must include technology that stops these attacks at the network and device level and keeps them from entering any connected device from the start."

"The conference provided a great forum to hear from, and discuss emerging solutions directly with, customers and industry partners, with whom we share a common goal -- to improve the security experience for users and identify beneficial business opportunities," said Ted Barlow, Chief Security Officer at McAfee, Inc. "Phoenix is a valued partner of ours that is at the forefront of device authentication, which is a key part of a multi-layered security strategy."

A Look into the Future

As has been the practice for several years, the conference concluded with a panel of industry analysts giving their opinions on 2005's most important trends. Among those cited were the growth in smartphones, media center PCs and SMS messaging; RFID adoption in the warehouse; multimedia solutions for automobiles; services for home and small business users; the end of the client/server era; and the proliferation of consumer electronics, which will be delivered through many different business models.

The attendees were also electronically polled in real time throughout the conference for their opinions on key businesses issues for the coming year. More than half were not confident that existing security measures can protect businesses and consumers from security losses. They cited:

--Viruses, worms, spyware and other malware as the most serious security issue.

--Device and data recovery capabilities as having the "best bang for the buck" in distributed computing environments;