Microsoft one step closer to AV
The latest developments on Microsoft's new anti-virus venture.
The news that set industry analysts chattering (and doom-sayers
prophesying) last month was Microsoft’s acquisition of email-scanning
software provider Sybari Software Inc.
Reaction to the news has been mixed
– the feeling of many is that, rather than attempting to enter the AV
market itself, Microsoft should concentrate its efforts on securing its
current products. Analysts predict that the biggest AV vendors, Symantec,
McAfee and Trend Micro, will feel the pressure from Microsoft’s entry into
the market (indeed share prices of McAfee and Symantec saw a dip
immediately following the announcement) and that smaller security firms
will face a struggle to remain in the market.
What makes the acquisition intriguing is that Sybari’s product (Antigen)
does not have its own scanning engine – instead it allows customers to use
virus engines from multiple vendors (which currently include AhnLab,
Authentium, CA, Kaspersky, Norman, Sophos and VirusBuster). Symantec
representatives have been quick to identify this as a weakness, saying ‘The
acquisition does not provide Microsoft with the security and AV response
infrastructure necessary to support the virus protection needs of
enterprise customers.’ Perhaps in their haste, however, they overlooked the
fact that Microsoft has had the Romanian GeCAD AV technology on the
backburner since mid-2003 and has said that it plans to add this to the
options that run on Antigen.
Gene Hodges, president of McAfee Inc., is
confident that his company’s reputation will keep customers loyal, saying,
‘We’ve stopped millions of viruses this year, and Microsoft hasn’t stopped
one. So let’s fight.’
Interesting times lie ahead.
01 March 2005
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