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Security firm BitDefender has come out with a new cloud-based endpoint security service. Called Cloud Security for Endpoints, it is available now. You can centrally manage a variety of clients across different locations, provided you have an Internet connection to all of them most of the time.

We last wrote about them earlier this summer, covering their Total Security 2012 product. and last covered cloud-based endpoint tools in August when we wrote about Digital Persona.

Security company McAfee released its second quarter threat report today and the language in it is quite frank: "The security industry may need to reconsider some of its fundamental assumptions, including 'Are we really protecting users and companies?'" With malware at its highest levels ever, the escapades of LulzSec and Anonymous continuing unhindered and new varieties of spam being created almost every minute, it is a pertinent question.

Android is now far and away the leader is mobile malware. For-profit mobile malware has also grown significantly, with SMS-sending Trojans and other complex Trojans compromising smartphones. Rootkit malware that takes over the operating kernel of a computer or a smartphone is also becoming popular among malicious programmers. As McAfee notes, "The second quarter of the year was clearly a period of chaos, changes and new challenges."

A new study from research firm Forrester shows that consumer attitudes towards Internet security are significantly changing. Consumers are now more aware of cyber security and are taking more steps to protect themselves on the Web. At the same time, consumers are gravitating to a select group of security vendors with freeware products dominating the industry.

Forrester used data from its Technographics survey over 16 major world markets to note that users are indeed more savvy about the threats to their computers and what they can do about it. The benefactors are the major players in security, most of which have been operating since the mid-1990s, when the first criminal hacker scare and spam started to weed into the mind share of the Internet populace. Norton, AVG, McAfee were the leaders then and are the leaders now. Yet, the vendors are seeing a lot more churn, with consumers dividing brand loyalty among several different products and suites from the major vendors. Have you become more cognizant of Web security in the last couple of years? What kind of products are you using to protect yourself on the Internet?

Anybody involved in the IT and cybersecurity industry knows that every major industry and government agency around the world is under threat of intrusion through Advanced Persistent Threats (APT). Security company McAfee is reporting one of the largest cases of intrusion ever in a campaign the company calls Operation Shady RAT (PDF) that has infiltrated 72 known (and many other unknown) governments and corporations over the last five years.

RAT - Remote Access Tool - is a technique that hackers use to gain access to computers and servers that allows it to siphon off data. In Operation Shady RAT, that data could include military and industrial secrets, emails from industries and more. If it could be stolen, it probably was. Victims range from the U.S. government, real estate agencies, the International Olympic Committee and small governments such as that of Taiwan. While many media organizations will call this "the biggest hack ever," it really should come as no surprise to anyone in the security field.

Intel's acquisition of McAfee last year puzzled many analysts. We said it was about securing the Internet of Things.

In an interview with Forbes' Andy Greenberg, McAfee CEO David Dewalt talks about the purchase and explains why it happened. Dewalt emphasizes the IoT angle, but more notably emphasizes that the security innovations will happen at the software level, not the hardware level. "We're not embedding anything into the silicon," he says. "What we're doing is utilizing features that exist today with the technologies McAfee has to secure the stack in a way that's never been done before."

Jive Software is adding four new members to its board of directors, including one of Mark Zuckerberg's direct reports responsible for technical operations at Facebook; the current president of McAfee Software and the Google technologist responsible for the development of Google Chrome and HTML 5 initiatives.

The move is part of what appearts to be Jive's efforts to prepare for an Initial Public Offering. It shows investors that the company has the clout to achieve a level of strength that positions it to compete even more with its chief target: Microsoft.

Today, the OpenNet Inititative has released a report on the roles Western tech companies have played in enabling repressive Arabic regimes to filter and control the use of the Web by their citizens.

In the report, authors Helmi Noman and Jillian C. York "find that nine countries in the region utilize Western-made tools for the purpose of blocking social and political content, effectively blocking a total of over 20 million Internet users from accessing such websites."

As 2010 wraps up with a month full of leaked documents, DDoS attacks and spam and database breaches, it's hardly surprising that security experts are predicting a rise in cybercrime in 2011. According to McAfee Labs, the top targets in the coming year will be some of the most popular technologies, services and platforms, including mobile devices, Internet TV and geolocation services.

"We've seen significant advancements in device and social network adoption, placing a bulls-eye on the platforms and services users are embracing the most," says Vincent Weafer, senior VP of McAfee Labs. "These platforms and services have become very popular in a short amount of time, and we're already seeing a significant increase in vulnerabilities, attacks and data loss."

The number of web sites infected with malware has doubled, according to Dasient's Q3 Malware Update. Planting malware on legitimate sites, through malvertising or other methods, is now the preferred method of criminals distributing malicious software. McAfee, in its own third quarter report, claims that daily malware infections are increasing at the highest rate ever. Meanwhile, as we've reported, BitDefender estimates that one in five Facebook users is exposed to malware. And Palo Alto Networks told us recently that Facebook use is rampant in enterprises, even where it's forbidden.

Considering all this, are you planning on changing your organization's anti-malware strategy?

Much of the chatter over the past two days about the Intel/McAfee deal has been about why Intel decided to acquire McAfee. But what does the deal mean for enterprise security managers? We asked a few experts at other security vendors to for their take on the news.