Microsoft offers virus removal program
Other security firms fret as software giant enters marketThe Associated Press
Updated: 3:29 p.m. ET Jan. 6, 2005WASHINGTON
- Microsoft Corp., whose popular Windows software is a frequent target for Internet viruses, is offering a free security program to remove the most dangerous infections from computers.
The program, with monthly updates, is a step toward plans by Microsoft to sell full-blown antivirus software later this year.
(MSNBC is a Microsoft-NBC joint venture)
Microsoft said Thursday that consumers can download the new security program from the company’s Web site — http://www.microsoft.com — and that updated versions will be offered automatically and free each month. It will be available starting Tuesday.
Also, Microsoft offered Thursday a free program to remove “spyware,” a category of irritating programs that secretly monitor the activities of Internet users and can cause sluggish computer performance or popup ads.
Microsoft said the virus-removal program will not prevent computer infections and was never intended to replace the need for traditional antivirus software, such as flagship products from McAfee Inc. or Symantec Corp.
But a senior Microsoft executive confirmed the company’s plans to sell its own antivirus software, which would compete against programs from McAfee, Symantec and others.
Microsoft purchased a Romanian antivirus firm, GeCAD Software Srl., for an undisclosed amount in 2003. Industry rivals expect Microsoft’s formal entry into the market as early as the spring.
“We will have a stand-alone antivirus product that is one of the things you can buy from Microsoft, but we’re not announcing anything today,” said Rich Kaplan, vice president for Microsoft’s security business and technology unit.
The offers of free virus- and spyware-removal tools were intended to convince consumers that Microsoft is working to improve its software’s security, Kaplan said.
Microsoft and other companies occasionally have offered separate programs to disinfect specific viruses. Microsoft promised its new removal tool will target a variety of infections and will be updated each month to recognize new ones.
Microsoft is sensitive to criticism about the susceptibility of its Windows operating system software to computer viruses. It has responded by tightening security for its popular Outlook e-mail software and improving the protective firewall utility for Windows. But its reputation largely has hinged on consumers’ effective use of antivirus products and other security programs outside Microsoft’s control.
Microsoft has proceeded more cautiously in recent years as it moves to compete against its one-time partners. European antitrust regulators last year fined the company $613 million over charges it abused its software monopoly. Microsoft is operating under restrictions from a U.S. antitrust settlement with the Bush administration until 2007.
Kaplan encouraged consumers to buy updated antivirus software from vendors such as Symantec and McAfee. He also expressed confidence that an industry organization formed to share details between Microsoft and leading antivirus companies about virus outbreaks would survive Microsoft’s decision to compete directly against those same businesses.
Antivirus vendors have warned investors about the fallout as Microsoft enters the market. McAfee, for example, said in its most recent annual report that its own products could become “obsolete and unmarketable” if Microsoft were to include antivirus protection in Windows software.
A Symantec executive, Vincent Weafer, said Microsoft’s success as an antivirus company at Symantec’s expense was not guaranteed. Weafer noted that some leading security companies have decades of specialized experience and skilled researchers.
“This is an area we certainly think we can differentiate ourselves from Microsoft,” Weafer said. “We’ve worked hard over the years to build trust with customers.”
Microsoft disclosed last month that it planned to offer software to remove spyware programs that are secretly running on computers. But in a shift from past practice, Microsoft said it may charge consumers for future versions of the new protective technology, which Microsoft acquired by buying a small New York software firm.
Kaplan said the free version of Microsoft’s new spyware-removal software will expire July 31 and pricing for future versions is still undecided. Rival anti-spyware tools, such as Lavasoft Inc.’s popular Ad-Aware product, offer similar functions to Microsoft’s, and many are free.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6794154/
Microsoft offers virus removal program & anti Spyware
Moderator: S2k Moderators
It appears that microsoft is coming up in the world. Today they release a new beta to protect your computer from spyware.
January 06, 2005
Microsoft rushes free antispyware beta to market
Posted by Jack McCarthy at January 6, 2005 03:23 PM
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.
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Accorded to there website which I just downloaded it from it says 1/7/05.chadtm80 wrote:Yes Kman.. They released that yesturday actually
Well I tried it and it find 41 spywares on my system and over 1000 keys on the registry that are infected. And that's after the apybot scan. The part I dont like about it is that it connects to mircosoft database afterwords...
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Terry
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Kman wrote:
So Kman, do you recommend using it or not? I use Spy Assasin.
Well I tried it and it find 41 spywares on my system and over 1000 keys on the registry that are infected. And that's after the apybot scan. The part I dont like about it is that it connects to mircosoft database afterwords...
So Kman, do you recommend using it or not? I use Spy Assasin.
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chadtm80
kmanWX wrote:Accorded to there website which I just downloaded it from it says 1/7/05.chadtm80 wrote:Yes Kman.. They released that yesturday actually
Well I tried it and it find 41 spywares on my system and over 1000 keys on the registry that are infected. And that's after the apybot scan. The part I dont like about it is that it connects to mircosoft database afterwords...
Yes Kman.. The reason it connects to there database is because It uploads any info that they think is spyware that is not in there database as of yet.. So that the next time someone runs it the database will be able to identify the most current Spyware and remove it.
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chadtm80
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