Software update: Symantec Endpoint Encryption 11.4.0 MP 2

Symantec, which is now part of Broadcom, has in the past acquired two different companies that developed encryption software: GuardianEdge and PGP. Symantec released the software from these two acquisitions as two different encryption product lines for a long time. The GuardianEdge line was renamed to ‘Endpoint Encryption’ and the PGP line was renamed to ‘Encryption Desktop’, along with ‘Encryption Management Server’. To an outsider, it was confusing that one company released two different encryption products that competed with each other and couldn’t work together. This is due to the publication of Endpoint Encryption 11 largely came to an end in 2014 in which these technologies were merged. The development team has released Endpoint Encryption version 11.4.0 MP2, with the following list of changes:

What’s new in this release

Introduced SEE Management Agent Command Line Interface
This release introduces the new Command Line Interface (CLI) utility (SEEMAUIApp.exe) for Symantec Endpoint Encryption (SEE) Management Agent. This CLI utility works with Windows computers running one of the SEE client components, such as Drive Encryption, Removable Media Encryption, or SEE for BitLocker. Using the CLI utility, you can run the following (example) command and can enforce the managed computers to connect (check-in) with the SEE Management Server whenever required:
SEEMAUIApp.exe –checkin

What’s changed in this release

Prevented improper use of the REINSTALLMODE parameter while performing fresh installation or upgrade of SEE client components
Using the REINSTALLMODE=vemus and ADDLOCAL=ALL parameters for a fresh installation or upgrade of Symantec Endpoint Encryption client components now stop the installation or upgrade process. These parameters must be used only to update an existing Symantec Endpoint Encryption client component of the same version. Do not use the REINSTALLMODE=vemus and ADDLOCAL=ALL parameters to perform a fresh installation or upgrade of Symantec Endpoint Encryption client components.

Removed the installation prerequisite for a system restart following updates to third-party software
Starting with this release, installing or upgrading Symantec Endpoint Encryption will no longer require a system reboot after the installation or updates to any third-party software. However, after installing Windows updates or Symantec Endpoint Encryption updates, systems still must be rebooted to successfully install or upgrade Symantec Endpoint Encryption.

Enhanced Admin Log and Client Events Log attributes
For auditing requirements, the following two attributes of Admin Log and Client Events Log are enhanced in this release:

• Age of the log entries (in days)
• Number of log entries

Starting with this release, the logs are purged on a first-in, first-out basis when:

• the total number of log entries reaches 300000 (previously 100000 log entries)
• the Admin Log entries that have been saved for 1095 days (previously 180 days)
• the Client Events Log entries that have been saved for 1095 days (previously 30 days)

Resolved issues

The following issues are fixed in this release:

• While installing or upgrading the Symantec Endpoint Encryption Management Server, when you click Next after entering credentials on the Database Access page, the database user is validated immediately without any delay. [EPG-30897]
• In a Symantec Endpoint Encryption setup where managed computers are named similarly to usernames, searching for users (on the Server Role Configuration > Add Users / Groups > Select Users tab) now displays only the users that match the search term, not computers. [EPG-30901]
• FileVault users that use spaces in their password are now successfully authenticated with SEE for FileVault Agent for sending the personal recovery key (PRK) to the SEE Management Server. [EPG-30902]
• The SQL Server connection timeout is now increased so that the upgrade of Symantec Endpoint Encryption is successful in a setup with a large database. [EPG-30910]