By Peter Pawlak [bio]
Posted: Jul. 24, 2006

The following is an illustration accompanying 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.

At Microsoft's June 2006 TechEd conference, the company announced a new brand—Forefront—that will apply to future Microsoft security products targeted at organizations. The Forefront line will include the upcoming Windows Client Protection product, future versions of Microsoft's Antigen products, and Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server.

Forefront Client Security

Currently in closed beta under the name Windows Client Protection, the product will be released in the second quarter of 2007 under the name Forefront Client Security. Unlike Microsoft's OneCare, Defender, and Safety Center offerings for consumers, Forefront Client Security is aimed at organizations and is a single, centrally manageable solution that provides detection and removal of spyware, rootkits, and other emerging threats, as well as traditional attacks such as viruses and worms. However, it will use the same signature files used by Microsoft's security offerings for consumers.

The name Forefront Client Security is a bit of a misnomer; it will run on all 2000 and later versions of Windows Server, in addition to the 2000 and later releases of the Windows client OSs (including Vista).

A public beta is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2006.

Antigen Brand Name to Be Dropped

The July 2006 releases of the Microsoft-branded Antigen products will be the last ones to carry the Antigen name; all future versions will carry the Forefront name. Unlike the current Antigen products, the new Forefront-branded versions will be available in 11 different languages. The following releases are currently planned:

Forefront Security for Exchange Server 2007. This product will ship at the time of the Exchange 2007 release, currently scheduled for late 2006 or early 2007. Because Exchange 2007 will support a new "edge server" role, in which it serves as an SMTP e-mail gateway between internal Exchange servers and the Internet, the new Forefront Security for Exchange Server 2007 will combine the features of Antigen for Exchange and Antigen for SMTP Gateways (and there will be no Forefront successor to the latter). Because Exchange 2007 will include beefed-up antispam capabilities, Antigen Spam Manager will not get a Forefront successor.

Forefront Security for SharePoint 2007. The successor to Sybari Antigen for SharePoint, this product will ship at the time of the SharePoint 2007 release, currently scheduled for late 2006 or early 2007.

Forefront Security for Office Communications Server 2007. The successor to Sybari Antigen for Instant Messaging, this product will accompany the release of Office Communications Server 2007 (the successor to Live Communications Server 2005), currently scheduled for the second quarter of 2007.

Forefront Server Security Management Console. The successor to Antigen Enterprise Manager, this product will ship in late 2006 and will enable centralized management of the Forefront antivirus products for Microsoft communications and collaboration servers.

ISA Server Futures

The successors to the current ISA Server 2004 Standard and Enterprise Editions will ship in Sept. 2006. These products were too far along in development to get the Forefront name and will still have the ISA Server 2006 name. (For details on what's new, see "ISA Server 2006 in Beta" on page 16 of the Apr. 2006 Update.) Microsoft has yet to release pricing or licensing details on these products.

The release to follow ISA Server 2006 is scheduled to ship sometime in 2008. Designed to run on Windows "Longhorn" Server, this will be the first release of ISA Server to get the Forefront name.