|
|
|
||||
| First Microsoft-Branded Antigen Products Ship | ||||
|
||||
|
By Peter Pawlak [bio]
The following is the full text of an article published by Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm focused exclusively on Microsoft strategy & technology. More samples of our content, as well as a list of upcoming articles and reports are also available. A year after Microsoft's acquisition of Sybari in July 2005, new Microsoft-branded versions of certain Antigen antivirus and antispam products have been released. However, as Microsoft moves forward with new 2007-branded versions of its communication and collaboration servers (Exchange, SharePoint, and Live Communications), future versions will lose the Antigen name in favor of Microsoft's new Forefront brand, which will also include Microsoft's forthcoming client security product and next version of its existing Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server. Sybari Update When Microsoft acquired Sybari Software, among the assets it received was Sybari's Antigen line of antivirus and antispam products for messaging and collaboration servers. These products are built around a Sybari technology called the Multiple Engine Manager (MEM) that can manage and coordinate several scanning engines with their associated signature files. This provides redundancy: a virus that compromises or gets past one antivirus scanner could be detected by other scanners with different signature files and scanning techniques. It also provides continuous protection: while one engine's signature file is being updated, other engines continue to scan new content. Microsoft continued to sell Antigen for IBM's Lotus Domino e-mail server and IMLogic's (recently acquired by Symantec) IM Manager instant messaging gateway and message archival server for the next year. However, it immediately discontinued Sybari's Antigen products for non-Windows platforms. Beginning July 2006, Microsoft stopped selling Antigen for Domino, but customers will be supported for the life of their license terms. Microsoft also has no plans to extend support for IM Manager beyond the current Antigen for Instant Messaging product (which also supports Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005). Until June 2006, Microsoft had operated Sybari as a wholly owned subsidiary and had not revealed when or how it would merge the Sybari products into Microsoft's product line. Antigen Products to Remain Stand-alone Ending speculation that Microsoft might simply incorporate Antigen into the upcoming releases of Exchange 2007, SharePoint 2007, and Office Communications Server 2007 (the successor to Live Communications Server 2005), the company has begun selling a line of stand-alone, Microsoft-branded Antigen products. In July 2006, it released four upgraded products plus a product bundle: Antigen for Exchange is an antivirus and content filtering solution for Exchange Server 2000 and 2003 that detects and removes viruses from mailboxes and provides keyword and file-attachment filtering capabilities that help organizations detect and reject messages that do not meet corporate policy. Antigen for SMTP Gateways is similar to Antigen for Exchange except that it runs on Windows-based SMTP gateways, including ISA Server 2004, thereby examining only e-mail traffic passing to or from the Internet. Antigen Spam Manager is an add-on for Antigen for Exchange and Antigen for SMTP Gateways that extends those products to detect and remove messages deemed to be spam. Microsoft claims that Antigen Spam Manager's spam filtering capabilities are more advanced than that of the Intelligent Message Filter (IMF) technology that comes free with Exchange 2003. Antigen Messaging Security Suite is a bundle that includes the above three Antigen products. Antigen Enterprise Manager is a browser-based management console for managing other Antigen server products centrally, but it is not mandatory: each Antigen product includes a console for managing one server at a time. Microsoft states that it now runs all acquired products through its Secure Development Lifecycle (SDL) process before it will sell them under the Microsoft label, and said the new Antigen versions include numerous modifications stemming from the SDL process. All Antigen antivirus products come with multiple scan engines. In addition to the new Microsoft anti-virus engine (obtained through its acquisition of GeCAD), Antigen for Exchange and Antigen for SMTP Gateways come with the CA Vet, CA InnoculateIT, Norman Data Defense, and Sophos engines. Antigen Spam Manager comes with the SpamCure engine from Mail-Filters. Although customers cannot install additional scan engines into the Antigen products, if they purchase the Antigen Messaging Security Suite they also get additional scan engines from AhnLab, Authentium, Kaspersky Lab, and VirusBuster. Antigen automatically keeps each of these engines up-to-date with the latest versions and signature files, and a portion of the Antigen license fees paid to Microsoft are used to reimburse the scan engine vendors (a practice rare for Microsoft). While the new products carry the Microsoft label, the administrator consoles do not have the look and feel of other Microsoft server product consoles and do not run as a snap-in to the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). (For a screen shot of its management interface, see "Antigen for Exchange Console".) A free Antigen Management Pack for Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 allows organizations to use MOM to monitor servers running Antigen for Exchange, Antigen for SMTP Gateways, and Antigen Spam Manager. When Microsoft acquires a small software company such as Sybari, the products typically benefit from Microsoft's skills and resources to localize English-only products into other languages, thereby expanding the potential market for the products. Unfortunately, the new Microsoft-branded Antigen products are still only available in English. However, because the products are server-side only and users do not interact with them, this shortcoming affects system administrators only. Pricing and Licensing Because antivirus and antispam products must be routinely updated with new signature files and engine updates, the industry norm is to license such software on a subscription basis. Sybari used subscription licensing, and Microsoft has decided to carry the practice forward with the Microsoft-branded products. The Microsoft Antigen products are available through any of the company's volume licensing programs. With the exception of Antigen Enterprise Manager (which is the only product licensed on a per-server per-month basis), license fees are calculated per-user per-month, but are paid either upfront for the whole contract or on yearly intervals. Fees are as follows:
When Microsoft releases Exchange 2007 early next year, it will offer a new Exchange Enterprise Client Access License (CAL) and a new Enterprise CAL Suite (which includes the Exchange Enterprise CAL). In addition to providing rights to use certain new Exchange features, customers who obtain these CALs through Enterprise Agreements or who purchase Software Assurance on these CALs will have the right to run the next release of Antigen for Exchange for the duration of their contracts at no additional charge. (For more details on the roadmap for Microsoft security products, see the illustration "Forefront Brand to Apply to Future Security Products".) Microsoft Antivirus for SharePoint and IM Coming Through its Sybari subsidiary, Microsoft currently offers Sybari Antigen for SharePoint (US$0.60 per user, per month), which protects Windows SharePoint Services and SharePoint Portal Server 2003; and Sybari Antigen for Instant Messaging (US$1.25 per user, per month), which protects Live Communications Server 2005. However, Microsoft does not plan to offer new Microsoft-branded versions of these two Sybari products until after it launches SharePoint 2007 as part of the Office 2007 rollout in late 2006 or early 2007, and until it ships Communications Server 2007 in the second quarter of 2007. When each is released, the company will ship Microsoft-branded versions of the respective Sybari products, but these products will carry the new Forefront name rather than Antigen. Unlike the deal with Exchange 2007, users who have purchased the Enterprise CAL suite do not automatically get rights for either of the new Forefront products for SharePoint or Communications Server. Customers whose subscriptions to the Sybari antivirus products are still current will be able to upgrade for free when these products become available. Resources Details on the current Sybari products and links to download the MOM management pack can be found at www.sybari.com. Details on the new Microsoft-branded Antigen products can be found at www.microsoft.com/antigen. The Sybari acquisition was described in "Microsoft Acquires Sybari Software" on page 19 of the Mar. 2005 Update and "Sybari Acquisition Final" on page 14 of the Aug. 2005 Update. Details on Microsoft's Forefront product line can be found at www.microsoft.com/forefront. Forefront Client Security (previously known as Windows Client Protection) is described in "Malicious Software Removal Tools Roadmap" on page 3 of the Dec. 2005 Update.
|
||||
