Forefront Brand to Apply to Future Security Products

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).