Microsoft is looking to cut into territory dominated by Symantec and
McAfee with the launch of a free anti-virus security program next week.
The beta software, Microsoft Security Essentials, will only be
available to Windows users in Brazil, Israel and the United States on
June 23, but the company expects to roll out its full version later
this year. The 140MB download is designed to seek out and destroy
malicious software that can turn PCs into spam distribution centres.
Microsoft will continually update identified malware on a daily
basis, but the software will not start to run until the program checks
with Microsoft’s servers and detects a dangerous threat.
The company is focusing on real-time threat detection capabilities,
a move that reminds me of Panda Software’s cloud-based approach to
anti-virus security, which it launched earlier this year.
Interestingly, Microsoft says it’s not interested in stealing
customers away from other anti-malware software providers, adding it
was looking to improve to the overall security by reaching out to
Windows users who don’t currently use any anti-virus software.
Overall, I think this is a good move for Microsoft and one that will
be quite successful. If it can create a product that works as well as
what Symantec and McAfee currently offers, the software will be a
no-brainer choice for the average Windows PC user.
Also, I don’t buy the argument that Microsoft is not trying to steal
customers away from the other security players. If it wanted to bring
security to more Windows users, it could have easily partnered with
Symantec or McAfee and embedded security functionality into Windows
that way.
