“Microsoft today officially announced Microsoft Security Essentials, its free, real-time consumer antimalware solution for fighting viruses, spyware, rootkits, and trojans. Currently being tested by Microsoft employees and a select few testers, MSE is Microsoft’s latest offering intended to help users fight the threats that plague Windows PCs. Microsoft notes that the threat ecosystem has expanded to include rogue security software, auto-run malware, fake or pirated software and content, as well as banking malware, and the company is aiming to help the users who are not well protected. A beta of MSE will be available in English and Brazilian Portuguese for public download on June 23, 2009 for the first 75,000 users. This is a target number, but Microsoft is willing to increase it if necessary.”
Hmm, just wondering… how does one properly beta test this? Purposely infect your PC with virii, malware, etc?
I’ll tell you, like Lisa’s tiger repelling rock. You use it, and if you don’t get infections (at least ones it can recognize) then it’s working. Tada.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus_(plural)#Virus
They will among other things clean “fake or pirated software and content”. Is that right?
Well good luck with that.
Imagine a user who installed the new AV from MS just to find out that her movies, music, tv shows and other goodies have been removed to protect her.
Well, Microsoft has shown that they can fix and protect us from malware and viruses before so why not trust them exclusively… oh wait…
Also, I find it fundamentally odd that instead of fixing the original problems with their operating system, Microsoft instead put out security software.
I thought that they were originally going to offer this with Windows Vista as a paid service until Symantec and McAfee complained.
If it’s free, will anyone want it more? I’d be afraid that it has security holes in it and could be disabled quite quickly.
That said, the free alternatives have been odd for me. I switched from AVG to Antivir but Antivir fails to update and their forums have a dozen or more different problems in updating.
When does the time come when it’s all free and secure?
Clamav database is free.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clamav
Moon secure is a freedom software on-access scanner that utilises the clamav database (without also requiring Winpooch).
http://www.moonsecure.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id…
You are in a very bad position if you have to run Windows, and hence in an effort to try to keep your machine uninfected you must rely on additional software that can only work once the malware files have already made it on to your machine. Yuk.
But, if you are in such an unenviable position, then perhaps some of this genuine freedom software may be of some help to you.
Oh … BTW … being open source, at least some of people who might use this software can tell that this software, which is meant after all to scan all the files on your machine, does so only for the purpose of checking said files against the malwares signature database.
You can’t say the same with assurance for any closed source programs, free (as in cost) or not.
Edited 2009-06-19 11:02 UTC
The ClamAV engine is nice but slow. A full disk search takes a lot longer with clam than for example AntiVir.
And the Moonsecure GUI is ugly as hell.
I haven’t used Windows for ages, but I think they should focus on making their OS better and more secure internally, instead of giving band-aid solutions like free antivirus software.
Edited 2009-06-19 00:09 UTC
Ah, so it’s that time again when MS feel the need to kill off another one of it’s support industries.
Just what I was going to say.
I thought MS was driven to help the 3rd party security/antivirus market flurish? It _IS_ a big industry after all.
As long as they don’t bundle it with Windows, I believe it should be fine.
Can you trust a company to protect your computer when it’s their other software that created the problem?
In Jersey that have a name for this kind of thing.
They will still allow the user to pick an AV of their choice, but now a system being put up on the internet does not have to be totally open before being able to download AV.