Four months after announcing that it would no longer ship LC5 (better known as L0phtcrack) to non-US locations, Symantec has officially dropped the entire L0phtcrack product line. L0phtcrack was first produced by L0pht, who merged with @stake in 2000, and was then acquired by Symantec in 2004. When asked why L0phtcrack was being discontinued Symantec replied, "The LC product line no longer fits into Symantec's future product strategy. As a result, Symantec will not be applying any future development resources to this product line and will discontinue all sales." . The link for this article located at SecurityDump.com is no longer available. . Symantec has officially ended the L0phtcrack series, halting all manufacturing and further development.. L0phtcrack, Symantec, Cybersecurity Tools, Software Discontinuation. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
According to Immunix COO Frank Rego, his company's decision to stop selling Immunix Linux wasn't a sudden shift but "more of a gradual change. We started in the appliance business with Trend Micro and Websense in the middle of last year." There was a layoff this week, but not a huge one. Rego says the company is now down to 20 employees from a high of about 25. He also says he hopes the company can start turning a profit by the end of 2004 -- but admits that he is an optimist. . . .. According to Immunix COO Frank Rego, his company's decision to stop selling Immunix Linux wasn't a sudden shift but "more of a gradual change. We started in the appliance business with Trend Micro and Websense in the middle of last year." There was a layoff this week, but not a huge one. Rego says the company is now down to 20 employees from a high of about 25. He also says he hopes the company can start turning a profit by the end of 2004 -- but admits that he is an optimist. Immunix Inc. was originally called WireX, and much of the research that went into early development of Immunix Linux was funded by DARPA. The company changed its name in 2003, and no longer receives federal research monies, but survives on a combination of cash generated through product sales and venture capital backing. The Immunix Linux distribution never became profitable. A big reason for this may have been competition from NSA's Security-Enhanced Linux, which had about the biggest name there is in electronic security behind it and started getting all the Linux "security buzz" almost from the day it was released. Rego says competition from SELinux made Immunix marketing "a challenge." CTO (and Immunix co-founder) Crispin Cowan sounds a tad bitter when he talks of how much easier Immunix is to install and administer than SELinux. "More people need to try the two of them side by side," he says. Neither Rego nor Cowan mentions another factor: Commercial Immunix costs $995, with a premium version that includes added support running $1,495, while SELinux isfreely downloadable. Not only that, a free version of Immunix is available, too. The most recent version of the Immunix OS, 7.3, was released in December, 2003, and it looks like it will be the last standalone one released, although Rego says the company will continue to support current users. (The press release in the previous link specifically promises support for Immunix 7.3 through March 2005.) The link for this article located at newsforge.com is no longer available. . Immunix's transition towards security hubs aligns with changing industry demands in a landscape of intense rivalry.. Immunix Linux, Security Appliance, Product Strategy. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
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