Cisco to bundle Trend security suite with wireless routers
Cisco has signed a deal with Trend Micro to embed internet security software into Linksys wireless routers. The deal represents a different way to market security software to families rather than a recognition that routers need anti-virus, which they don't.
The Home Network Defender software will include parental control (censorware software), virus protection, and network activity reporting technology. The two firms are marketing the technology as a way of providing network protection for family PCs and other home-network devices, including online game consoles, Wi-Fi enabled phones, and personal media players.
The tools are designed to provide a way to identify malicious websites, including sites associated with fraud, and content at the router level. The parental controls can be customised by parents, and adjusted by time of day. Because the controls are embedded in routers, rather than running on PCs, they will be harder to defeat, Cisco and Trend argue.
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