Symantec Combines Security Units

Security breaches aren't simply about viruses or worms or software vulnerability any more. Increasingly, security threats are packaged deals like the Code Red worm, which was a self-propagating worm that exploited a vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Information Services software.

As a result, security vendor Symantec Corp. says it is reorganizing several security units into a single team called Symantec Security Response. Sharon Ruckman, senior director of Symantec Security Response, says the group will include what used to be Symantec's technical support, research centers, and security-education efforts. And Symantec's security research Web site, www.sarc.com, will become http://securityresponse.symantec.com.

Ruckman says the reorganization is partly due to Symantec's $525 million acquisition of intrusion-detection vendor Axent Technologies Inc.