Symantec Protection Engine for Cloud Services on Linux

My main use case for Symantec Protection Engine in our organization involves both scanning and protection. We have nearly 200 servers in our environment with the Symantec agent installed. I use Symantec Protection Engine daily as part of our business-as-usual activities, primarily for real-time scanning and protection across SharePoint, web applications, and servers.

Scanning is performed online during file transfers, with optional scheduled scans to catch any missed items. The incident response team at Kyndryl also leverages this tool, integrating it with other platforms to forward logs to our SOC monitoring team.

Symantec Protection Engine's been a game-changer for us at Kantar—blocks like 80-85% of file-based threats right at the gateway before they hit our 200 servers, cutting down endpoint incidents big time.

The main win is that real-time ICAP scans on NAS and SharePoint uploads quarantine ransomware or phishing docs instantly with ML, so instead of 20+ CrowdStrike remediations a week, we're down to 8-10. SOC shifts save 1-2 hours daily on handovers thanks to the central dashboard and syslog feeds to ServiceNow, freeing us up for phishing deep dives with Trend Micro or CySA+ studying.

Also slashed MTTR by half on server threats 90 mins vs 4 hours by auto-exporting hashes for L3 analysis.

The best features of Symantec Protection Engine include machine learning, file reputation, and real-time scanning. It efficiently handles heavy loads through ICAP and cloud-based processing, reducing the burden on endpoints compared to Trend Micro and other endpoint security solutions. Its centralized control is also noteworthy.

Through machine learning, it detects both known and unknown malware and malicious URLs, in addition to performing signature-based scans that assist SOC teams in analysis. The solution is highly effective in leveraging both machine learning and file reputation. Regarding centralized control, it offers a unified management console for policy deployment and provides real-time visibility through dashboards, helping save significant administrative time.

Symantec Protection Engine has had a positive impact on our organization by enhancing our overall security posture. It effectively blocks a high volume of file-based threats across more than 200 servers, saves SOC analysts time in endpoint remediation, and streamlines compliance processes. It further strengthens security through real-time scanning and machine learning-based quarantine, blocking phishing payloads in SharePoint uploads before they reach endpoints, thereby reducing incidents by 30–40% compared to signature-only tools.

To improve Symantec Protection Engine, I suggest simplifying its integration with other tools, as it is more complex compared to Trend Micro and CrowdStrike. Making the integration process easier would be highly beneficial.

I have used Symantec Protection Engine for approximately two to three years.

The reduction has positively impacted our team's workload, decreasing ticket volume by approximately 30 to 40 percent. This means less work for our SOC team, as they now receive fewer tickets. From a cost and resource perspective, this change has been beneficial.

In my experience, Symantec Protection Engine offers efficient scalability, allowing the easy addition of multiple servers. While the on-premises setup depends on the capacity of the installed servers, in AWS we can easily scale from 200 to 500 instances—and sometimes even to thousands daily—through ICAP load-balancing mirroring.

I have interacted with the customer support team for Symantec Protection Engine, and it was excellent to work with them. They provided solutions that were very effective.

Positive

I have previously worked with multiple tools before using Symantec Protection Engine, including Trend Micro, CrowdStrike, and Microsoft Defender. I used these tools in different projects, alongside Symantec Protection Engine.

Straightforward

consultant

Pricing for Symantec Protection Engine was decent.

I didn’t evaluate many other options before choosing Symantec Protection Engine, as it was already part of the project when I joined, so I couldn’t change it. However, I would recommend exploring other tools when the renewal opportunity arises.

Symantec Protection Engine scans incoming content and occasionally raises alerts if it detects anything concerning. It is currently deployed on-premises in our environment. I recommend others consider using Symantec Protection Engine because it is cost-effective. 

However, I suggest opting for the cloud version instead of on-premises or hybrid deployments, as the cloud offers better scalability and easier troubleshooting. Overall, I would rate this product 8 out of 10.