Microsoft has released free software that people can use to protect computers against viruses, spyware and other malicious codes in arsenals of cyber criminals.
Microsoft Security Essentials is available for download at microsoft.com/security_essentials and is built on technology that the global software giant uses in computer security programs it designs for businesses.
"With Microsoft Security Essentials, consumers can get high-quality protection that is easy to get and easy to use, and it won't get in their way," said Amy Barzdukas, general manager for consumer security at Microsoft.
"Consumers have told us that they want the protection of real-time security software but we know that too many are either unwilling or unable to pay for it, and so end up unprotected."
Microsoft hopes that the free software will be broadly adopted, particularly by those who have not been vigilant about protecting computers from hackers, and thereby "increase security across the entire Windows ecosystem."
More than 90 percent of the computers worldwide run on Windows operating systems made by the US technology firm.
"Microsoft is helping to reduce some of the barriers that constrain consumers from running (anti-virus software)," said IDC security analyst Jon Crotty. "Microsoft is focused on the challenges that prevent consumers from running up-to-date anti-virus software today, particularly in emerging markets where there is a growing prevalence of malware."
Security Essentials is designed to run behind the scenes, defending machines against infection by malicious computer codes.
The real-time nature of the software means it is automatically kept up-to-date regarding viruses.
Computer security specialty firm Symantec downplayed the Microsoft offering, saying it is lightweight and isn't tuned for new forms of attack being used by hackers.
Symantec referred to Security Essentials as a stripped-down version of an old Microsoft OneCare product that got poor ratings.
"From a security perspective, this Microsoft tool offers reduced defenses at a critical point in the battle against cyber crime," Symantec said of the free offering that competes with Norton products sold by the firm.
"Unique malware and social engineering tricks fly under the radar of traditional signature-based technology alone -- which is what is employed by free security tools such as Microsoft's," it said.
Agencies
Showing posts with label spyware. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spyware. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Free anti-virus software from Microsoft
Microsoft Corp is getting ready to unveil a long-anticipated free anti-virus service for PCs that will compete with products sold by Symantec Corp and McAfee Inc. A Microsoft spokesman said on Wednesday that the world's biggest software maker is testing an early version of the product with its own employees.
Microsoft would "soon" make a trial version, or product beta, available via its website, he added, but declined to provide a specific date. Symantec shares fell 1.6 percent in afternoon trading and McAfee fell 1.8 percent, while Microsoft was up 1.1 per cent.
The Nasdaq composite index was down 1.2 per cent. Investors are closely monitoring the free service, code-named Morro after after Brazil's Morro de Sao Paolo beach, amid concern it could hurt sales of products from Symantec and McAfee, which generate billions of dollars of revenue a year protecting Windows PCs from attacks by hackers.
"It's a long-term competitive threat," said Daniel Ives, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets, though he added that the near-term impact was minimal. Microsoft has said that Morro will offer basic features for fighting a wide-range of viruses, which would likely make it comparable to low-end consumer products from Symantec and McAfee that cost about $40 per year.
Their top-selling products are security suites that come with features including encryption, firewalls, password protection, parental controls and data backup. Three years ago, Microsoft entered that market with Live OneCare, which turned out to be a commercial flop.
It announced plans in November to kill that product suite, saying it would launch the free Morro service by the end of 2009. Analysts said they are looking forward to examining Morro's beta to see exactly how its features compare to those in products from competitors. Microsoft has said it will provide protection from several types of malicious software including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans.
Officials with Symantec and McAfee have said they do not see Morro as a threat. Joris Evers, a spokesman for No 2 security software maker McAfee, said his company is already enjoying strong growth despite competition from free anti-virus products that are on the market.
"On a level playing field, we are confident in our ability to compete with anyone who might enter the marketplace," he said. A spokesman for Symantec, the biggest security software maker, could not be reached for comment. Trend Micro Inc, the No 3 player, declined comment.
Agencies
Microsoft would "soon" make a trial version, or product beta, available via its website, he added, but declined to provide a specific date. Symantec shares fell 1.6 percent in afternoon trading and McAfee fell 1.8 percent, while Microsoft was up 1.1 per cent.
The Nasdaq composite index was down 1.2 per cent. Investors are closely monitoring the free service, code-named Morro after after Brazil's Morro de Sao Paolo beach, amid concern it could hurt sales of products from Symantec and McAfee, which generate billions of dollars of revenue a year protecting Windows PCs from attacks by hackers.
"It's a long-term competitive threat," said Daniel Ives, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets, though he added that the near-term impact was minimal. Microsoft has said that Morro will offer basic features for fighting a wide-range of viruses, which would likely make it comparable to low-end consumer products from Symantec and McAfee that cost about $40 per year.
Their top-selling products are security suites that come with features including encryption, firewalls, password protection, parental controls and data backup. Three years ago, Microsoft entered that market with Live OneCare, which turned out to be a commercial flop.
It announced plans in November to kill that product suite, saying it would launch the free Morro service by the end of 2009. Analysts said they are looking forward to examining Morro's beta to see exactly how its features compare to those in products from competitors. Microsoft has said it will provide protection from several types of malicious software including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans.
Officials with Symantec and McAfee have said they do not see Morro as a threat. Joris Evers, a spokesman for No 2 security software maker McAfee, said his company is already enjoying strong growth despite competition from free anti-virus products that are on the market.
"On a level playing field, we are confident in our ability to compete with anyone who might enter the marketplace," he said. A spokesman for Symantec, the biggest security software maker, could not be reached for comment. Trend Micro Inc, the No 3 player, declined comment.
Agencies
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Has Conficker attacked thousands of PCs globally?
A malicious software programme known as Conficker that many feared would wreak havoc on April 1 is slowly being activated, weeks after being dismissed as a false alarm, security experts said.
Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is quietly turning thousands of personal computers into servers of e-mail spam and installing spyware, they said.
The worm started spreading late last year, infecting millions of computers and turning them into "slaves" that respond to commands sent from a remote server that effectively controls an army of computers known as a botnet.
Its unidentified creators started using those machines for criminal purposes in recent weeks by loading more malicious software onto a small percentage of computers under their control, said Vincent Weafer, a vice president with Symantec Security Response, the research arm of the world's largest security software maker, Symantec Corp.
"Expect this to be long-term, slowly changing," he said of the worm. "It's not going to be fast, aggressive."
Conficker installs a second virus, known as Waledac, that sends out e-mail spam without knowledge of the PC's owner, along with a fake anti-spyware program, Weafer said. The Waledac virus recruits the PCs into a second botnet that has existed for several years and specializes in distributing e-mail spam.
"This is probably one of the most sophisticated botnets on the planet. The guys behind this are very professional. They absolutely know what they are doing," said Paul Ferguson, a senior researcher with Trend Micro Inc, the world's third-largest security software maker.
He said Conficker's authors likely installed a spam engine and another malicious software program on tens of thousands of computers since April 7.
He said the worm will stop distributing the software on infected PCs on May 3 but more attacks will likely follow. "We expect to see a differen
t component or a whole new twist to the way this botnet does business," said Ferguson, a member of The Conficker Working Group, an international alliance of companies fighting the worm.
Researchers had feared the network controlled by the Conficker worm might be deployed on April 1 since the worm surfaced last year because it was programmed to increase communication attempts from that date. The security industry formed the task force to fight the worm, bringing widespread attention that experts said robably scared off the criminals who command the slave computers.
The task force initially thwarted the worm using the Internet's traffic control system to block access to servers that control the slave computers. Viruses that turn PCs into slaves exploit weaknesses in Microsoft's Windows operating system. The Conficker worm is especially tricky because it can evade corporate firewalls by passing from an infected machine onto a USB memory stick, then onto another PC.
The Conficker botnet is one of many such networks controlled by syndicates that authorities believe are based in eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, China and Latin America.
Agencies
Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is quietly turning thousands of personal computers into servers of e-mail spam and installing spyware, they said.
The worm started spreading late last year, infecting millions of computers and turning them into "slaves" that respond to commands sent from a remote server that effectively controls an army of computers known as a botnet.
Its unidentified creators started using those machines for criminal purposes in recent weeks by loading more malicious software onto a small percentage of computers under their control, said Vincent Weafer, a vice president with Symantec Security Response, the research arm of the world's largest security software maker, Symantec Corp.
"Expect this to be long-term, slowly changing," he said of the worm. "It's not going to be fast, aggressive."
Conficker installs a second virus, known as Waledac, that sends out e-mail spam without knowledge of the PC's owner, along with a fake anti-spyware program, Weafer said. The Waledac virus recruits the PCs into a second botnet that has existed for several years and specializes in distributing e-mail spam.
"This is probably one of the most sophisticated botnets on the planet. The guys behind this are very professional. They absolutely know what they are doing," said Paul Ferguson, a senior researcher with Trend Micro Inc, the world's third-largest security software maker.
He said Conficker's authors likely installed a spam engine and another malicious software program on tens of thousands of computers since April 7.
He said the worm will stop distributing the software on infected PCs on May 3 but more attacks will likely follow. "We expect to see a differen
t component or a whole new twist to the way this botnet does business," said Ferguson, a member of The Conficker Working Group, an international alliance of companies fighting the worm.
Researchers had feared the network controlled by the Conficker worm might be deployed on April 1 since the worm surfaced last year because it was programmed to increase communication attempts from that date. The security industry formed the task force to fight the worm, bringing widespread attention that experts said robably scared off the criminals who command the slave computers.
The task force initially thwarted the worm using the Internet's traffic control system to block access to servers that control the slave computers. Viruses that turn PCs into slaves exploit weaknesses in Microsoft's Windows operating system. The Conficker worm is especially tricky because it can evade corporate firewalls by passing from an infected machine onto a USB memory stick, then onto another PC.
The Conficker botnet is one of many such networks controlled by syndicates that authorities believe are based in eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, China and Latin America.
Agencies
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