Microsoft Move Into Anti-Spyware

[forwardone]

Microsoft move into anti-spyware market
Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/) have announced that they have purchased GIANT Company Software Inc (http://www.giantcompany.com/), a move which they are hoping will allow them to move into the anti-spyware market. GIANT Company Software (http://www.giantcompany.com/) create a little known piece of software called GIANT Anti-Spyware (http://www.giantcompany.com/), which Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/) claim is a market leading piece of anti-spyware software, although we're not sure as to the accuracy of that claim.

Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Business and Technology Unit at Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/), made the following comment about the purchase:

Spyware is a serious and growing problem for PC users, and customers have made it clear that they want Microsoft to deliver effective solutions to protect against the threat. Through this acquisition we're excited to be able to provide near-term relief to Windows customers by offering new technology to help keep spyware and other deceptive software off their PCs.

Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/) are intending to release a beta version of an anti-spyware product to users within a month, which will be based on the GIANT (http://www.giantcompany.com/) AntiSpyware product. It will be available for Windows 2000 (http://www.microsoft.com/windows) and Windows XP (http://www.microsoft.com/windows), and will be able to both detect and remove existing spyware, as well as block spyware from being installed in the first place.

No financial information was available about the deal itself, although some of GIANT's (http://www.giantcompany.com/) employees will be moving across to Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/) to help in their security efforts. This move into the spyware market by one of the industry's software giants goes to show how serious this problem is becoming, with an estimated 67% of all PC's infected with some form of spyware. Hopefully this will raise the awareness of spyware amongst end users, even if they choose to use some other form of spyware removal product.

If you can't wait the month for Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/) to get around to releasing their anti-spyware tool, we'd recommend trying out either the excellent and free Spybot Search and Destroy (http://www.spybot.info/en/index.html), or the original Ad-Aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/) product from Lavasoft USA (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/), available in both free and paid for versions.


Geoff

[forwardone]

Microsoft rushes free antispyware beta to market

Microsoft wasted little time after buying antispyware vendor Giant Software Company last month to release on Thursday a free trial copy of its Windows AntiSpyware product.

The rapid turnaround is indicative of the company's growing concern over security flaws threatening consumer and enterprise systems.

The company offered copies of the AntiSpyware beta on Microsoft's Web site.

The antispyware product is available to Windows 2000 and later additions, and requires a connection to the Internet to participate in SpyNet, the world-wide network of AntiSpyware users created by Giant to help spot and block new spyware programs, the company said.

Microsoft also promised to offer a new tool to remove malicious programs.

In January 2004, Microsoft released a series of removal tools, each of which targeted a single virus or worm and some of its variants. The new Microsoft Windows malicious software removal tool consolidates these existing removal tools into a single solution. The tool will be updated on the second Tuesday of each month as part of Microsoft's monthly software security update, the company said.

The initiative builds on the security technologies and protection features of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), designed in response to growing threats to help safeguard computers from hackers, viruses and other security risks.

"We've made great progress there with Windows XP SP2," said Mike Nash, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President for Security Business & Technology Unit. "If you consider the advanced security technologies that we made available in SP2, that work was about helping people identify ActiveX controls installing on their machines, helping customers control what�s happening on their browsers, locking down the points at which where malicious software can be installed on their machines, and so forth."

"In many ways, the Windows AntiSpyware solution is an extension of that work we've already started," Nash said. "Today, the security enhancements in Windows XP SP2, coupled with the capabilities of the antispyware technology ac-quired from Giant, provide our customers with sound protection."

Still, Microsoft has had serious difficulties enforcing security, Jonathan Eunice, principal analyst with Illuminata, said recently.

"Their problems have to do with fundamental architecture points about the way Windows is designed," he said.

Some security experts object to Microsoft limiting security-focused updates for its products to licensed users, arguing that security threats that take advantage of shortcomings in the ubiquitous Windows operating system affect everyone, IDG News Service said. "If you have a compromised copy of Windows, it's not just your problem, it's everybody else on the Internet's problem, too," said John Levine, a member of the Internet Research Task Force's Anti-Spam Research Group.

Geoff

[forwardone]

The company offered copies of the AntiSpyware beta on Microsoft's Web site. I`ve downloaded this and it has a LOT of extra features that I`ve not seen on any other AntiSpyware program that I have.

Geoff

[forwardone]

Well, anti-spyware firms are not the only companies that has been bought out by Microsoft.They also bought out anti-virus firm GeCAD back in 2003, and rumours are starting to surface Microsoft might be offering some form of anti-virus product in partnership with it's anti-spyware software.

I wonder how the two major players in anti-virus programs will feel about that?

Geoff

[Pete Berg]

Yeah there are lot of companies that have this anti-spyware as their product..each time these anti-spywares are produced by more and more forums as with new features and with good results..but it is very difficult to give new thing to the product which should be better then the same product by other forums..