Fighting malware and spam

MS admits serious problems with OneCare

Detection failures and other issues confirmed, improvements promised.

Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare, hit by a series of public relations difficulties recently with failures in both VB100 and other independent testing, as well as a high-profile problem with inappropriate quarantining of email databases, suffered another blow last week with a senior spokesman widely quoted in the press admitting to numerous problems with the product itself, its implementation and Microsoft's attitude to supporting it.

Arno Edelmann, a senior European product manager with Microsoft, told a ZDNet journalist at the CeBIT show in Hanover last week that there were issues with the base code of the product, bought in from Romanian AV company GeCAD in 2003, including 'missing pieces', and also with the update system in place. He mentioned problems with how Microsoft has gone about integrating virus protection into its product lineup, referring to several problems with Outlook email databases being quarantined or even deleted, to the dismay of users, and said that security was 'just a little part of Microsoft'.

Also at CeBIT, Symantec's outspoken CEO John Thompson has described the position of a provider of both operating systems and security products as a 'huge conflict of interest'. Although Microsoft was not specifically mentioned in his keynote speech on the topic of user confidence, it was clear that he was referring to the producer of Windows Vista and OneCare, both of which have regularly been subjected to criticism by Thompson in the past.

In response, some concrete statements have begun to emerge from within Microsoft, examining the recent problems and the need to do better in future. Industry heavyweight Jimmy Kuo, who joined Microsoft from McAfee last year, posted a detailed entry on the anti-malware team's blog, here, analysing recent testing failures and promising a greater focus on malware known to be in the wild, as well as a concerted expansion of detection across the board to improve results in testing and to provide a better 'sense' of security.

Backing up this promise, Kuo mentions Microsoft's recent expansions to the anti-malware team, with new labs expected worldwide and an aggressive hiring policy, which has seen numerous malware experts drafted into the teams backing OneCare and ForeFront.

'No matter what people say about them, there's no escaping the fact that Microsoft's security products are going to be used by a lot of people, particularly in the home-user market,' said John Hawes, Technical Consultant at Virus Bulletin. 'For their sake, we have to hope that Microsoft makes good on these promises and ensures that it provides consistent quality protection.'

A further blog entry, from a OneCare product manager, also discusses the test failures, stresses Microsoft's commitment to its anti-malware products, and assures readers that the problems with Outlook mailboxes are now fully resolved. The entry can be found here.

19 March 2007

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