June 22, 2009 by James Oliver
Tomorrow the world will finally see a beta of Microsoft’s long awaited ‘Security Essentials,’ the programme that, if it works, could make life very hard for traditional anti-virus makers like Norton and Symantec. The programme works just like its competitors, in that it analyses changes to a computer’s file system to track actions like copies, installs, etc. If a known virus is discovered, it alerts the user before it can do any damage.
Microsoft’s reason for doing this? To protect the Windows software from becoming even more overrun with malware than it already is and in the process, try to rebut Mac users’ favourite criticism of PC’s, that they are more susceptible to malicious software than than macs.
There’s also a security concern to contend with. The vast majority of computers in the world use Windows, that includes some very important companies and government bodies, with some very sensitive information. If Microsoft wants to keep those clients, it’s in their interest to do something to halt the spread of infection.
The way to do that is to do something about the vast swathes of unprotected computers out there. When these systems fall prey fall prey to spyware programmers, as they frequently do, they become unwitting tools in the malware process, as malicious programmes use their contacts to cast their worms and trojans even further. If Microsoft can deny the hackers these extra contacts, then they will have gone a long way to halting the growth of the problem.
However, the plan is not without controversy. Whilst Microsoft claim that they are targeting only unprotected computers with their software, it is difficult to see how building a programme that essentially does the same thing as the offerings from McAfee, et al, won’t affect sales of their software.
Whilst I feel bad for the companies who’ve basically had their business model snatched away, it’s hard to argue that this isn’t a necessary step. Scares like the Conficker worm have opened people’s eyes to the fact that Malware is in danger of becoming unmanageable, in fact, in an age when around 90% of all email communication is spam, some would argue that we’re already there.
Hopefully Microsoft’s programme will be effective enough and marketed heavily enough to convince the masses of the need to think about security.
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