Security

How Symantec Protects People and Data at Nonprofit Partners

Nonprofits need cybersecurity tools as much as for-profit businesses do, and Symantec is helping to provide them.

Calvin Hennick is a freelance journalist who specializes in business and technology writing. He is a contributor to the CDW family of technology magazines.

Like organizations in every industry, nonprofits have valuable data they need to protect. In addition to employee payroll and donor data, nonprofits store and manage information as diverse as HIV treatment records, notes from drug counseling sessions, and the addresses and phone numbers of victims of domestic violence.

It’s critical for nonprofits to secure this data — not only for financial and regulatory reasons, but also to protect vulnerable populations and maintain the trust of both donors and clients.

Unlike large enterprises, however, many nonprofits lack the financial resources to make robust cybersecurity investments. Enter Symantec. Through a partnership with TechSoup, the cybersecurity vendor is helping nonprofits to secure their networks and devices, ultimately allowing them to better pursue their missions.

Marine Conservation Society Taps Symantec’s Norton

One Symantec user, the Marine Conservation Society, uses its products to help protect the personal information of 16,000 members, donors and volunteers.

The U.K. organization works for political, cultural and social change for healthy seas and coasts that support marine life and sustainable livelihoods, and it’s best known for its efforts to clean up marine litter. The organization’s campaigns, which include volunteer-driven beach cleanups, have removed 6 million pieces of litter to date.

The Marine Conservation Society chose Norton Small Business from Symantec to help manage and secure 15 remote staffers’ devices. In addition to anti-virus, the tool includes a USB block feature that can further reduce the introduction of malware. With the Symantec solution protecting the organization’s sensitive data, leaders at the nonprofit are able to focus more attention on their mission of protecting the environment.

Symantec and TechSoup Expand Alliance

Since 2002, Symantec has partnered with TechSoup for a product donation program that provides cybersecurity tools to nonprofits. Recently, the partners expanded the program to serve organizations in more than 200 countries and territories.

“Information security is one of the most critical elements for these nonprofits, and threats are only increasing,” says Tess Hetzel, corporate responsibility manager at Symantec. “With this expansion, we are going to reach some of the world’s most vulnerable populations, and our products will be helping play a role in ensuring their safety.”

To date, the partnership has distributed $267 million worth of Symantec products to more than 102,000 nonprofits and public libraries. Some products are available only to U.S. nonprofits, but three core tools are available to every nongovernmental organization in TechSoup’s Global Expansion Program:

Symantec Endpoint Protection, Small Business Edition (SBE) — This software is meant for organizations that have between five and 100 endpoints. It protects networked laptops, desktops and servers against viruses, Trojans, spyware, adware, rootkits and zero-day attacks. The tool also allows IT administrators to manage endpoints through the cloud.
Symantec Endpoint Protection, One-Year Subscription — This product is similar to Endpoint Protection SBE, but is designed for organizations with more than 100 endpoints. Also, this tool must run on a local server, which some organizations prefer, especially if they lack reliable internet connectivity.
Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange, with Anti-Virus One-Year Subscription — This solution, for use with Exchange Server 2007, 2010, 2013 or 2016, helps nonprofits to prevent spam and phishing attacks, and enables flexible content filtering.

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