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Microsoft Antigen Secures Enterprise Messaging
Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
2006-06-07
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Microsoft launched five enterprise e-mail security products, collectively known as the Antigen line, this Tuesday. The effort represents Microsoft's first endeavor in corporate security in over a year.
Three of the programs are simply renamed and reworked: Antigen for Exchange, Antigen for SMTP Gateways, and Antigen Spam Manager. With multiple scanning engines, they attempt to detect malware and spam at the perimeter or within the network (at the Exchange server itself). A three-pack containing all of these will be available.
The Antigen Enterprise Manager is also set to debut. This central console will control and report on Antigen defenses. Additionally, Microsoft has promised to give away an add-on to Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 that will monitor the products and notify administrators and users of malware and spam activity.
This latest release could represent a trend at Microsoft. "Microsoft is clearly ramping up its security effort," said Peter Pawlak, an analyst at Directions On Microsoft. "They just went live with OneCare, and the corporate Client Protection is in beta and expected later this year. They're very serious about security. But they also know that this is one of the big areas where they have to do a good job."
The Antigen line has its detractors. "When it comes to security, people know that just good is not good enough," said McAfee spokeswoman Siobhan MacDermott. "Microsoft's [security products] are just not as good as a single-point vendor . . . . Microsoft may know its products [such as Exchange] but they are arguably the reason why security vendors exist."
McAfee offers its Total Protection as an alternative. The program acts as an all-in-one solution, allowing users to manage all the company's security components from one console. In addition, McAfee's SiteAdvisor service, which is currently aimed only at individual consumers, will be brought to corporations.
The Antigen line of products should be available via volume licensing on July 1. Four of the five will be presented on the Microsoft site for free 90-day trials.
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About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for SecurityProNews. InternetFinancialNews, SearchNewz, and WebProNews.
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