How do you feel about anti-virus software? Is it too expensive? Too complicated? Does it slow down your PC? Do you always renew the subscription? What about the free programs, are they just trials leading to paid products? Do you even know the companies making this software? According to Microsoft this long list of popular complaints have become the main set of obstacles between computer security and the ever-growing rise of viruses, spyware, Trojans, and rootkits. The number of computers running without protection is still too high and for Microsoft, a company with perhaps the largest stake in computer security, the time has come for them to do something about it. The answer will be their own free anti-virus program called Microsoft Security Essentials, due out later this year.
Not only will their solution be free, but it will require no subscription, no renewal. Updates will always be available. It will be simple to use and small in size, making it easy even for those with slow internet connections to download and install. It won’t drain your computer’s resources, allowing it to run as fast as before you installed the software. It will only include features designed towards security to keep itself small, simple and will only be offered as a direct download from Microsoft’s own website so you always know who you’re downloading it from. It will aim to offer “quiet protection”, choosing to perform scans and updates only during periods when your computer is idle, and despite its simplicity, it will offer real-time protection against viruses, spyware, Trojans, and rootkits.
Perhaps its most impressive feature will be its Dynamic Signature Service a component that both validates suspicious files against a set of signatures that are downloaded daily and monitors for new malware, all through checks that are performed in near real-time. When it detects a file that behaves suspiciously it checks it against the Signature Service to see if it should be analyzed or terminated. This allows the software to better react to changes in your computer’s system as well as adapt to new threats.
Along with today’s announcement, Microsoft is releasing a limited run of a beta version of the software, giving away copies to the first 75,000 users originating in the US, Brazil, and Israel. Unfortunately Canadians are not included.
Microsoft Security Essentials will be made available for PCs running Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or 3), Windows Vista, or Windows 7 (Beta or Release Candidate).Versions of the software will be available for both 32-bit and 64-bit systems.
Whether Microsoft’s free anti-virus software can rival the professional packages offered by current market leaders Symantec and McAfee remains to be seen, but it may not be the issue as the goal is to go after users who are currently not protected, including those in emerging markets and consumers who are still not ready to use a credit card to purchase protection online.
With today’s announcement Microsoft has identified the right issues and have made the right promises to fix them. If they can add protection to a demographic that has been resistant to using such software, then it will make a difference. The only hitch is that, like other Windows-related products, Microsoft Security Essentials will have to pass Microsoft Genuine Windows verification, preventing its use with counterfeit editions of Windows. As we saw in the recent Conficker virus attacks, unprotected computers running counterfeit versions of Windows continue to play a large role in the spread of computer viruses today and remain a top security issue still to be addressed.
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