Security Overview

A corporate antivirus and antispyware client product is planned for the first half of 2007. Forefront Client Security will be a unified malware scanning product for PC viruses, worms, Trojans, adware, and spyware. It will probably not have the firewall, health monitoring, or backup-and-restore features of the consumer-oriented OneCare, but it will support central configuration using Active Directory and Group Policy. Forefront Client Security will also support distribution of malware signatures through Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). (The Forefront name will eventually apply to all of Microsoft’s enterprise security products.)

Several products acquired with Sybari have been updated (and given the Forefront name) in connection with late 2006 product releases. Specifically, the Sybari Antigen e-mail antivirus products have been updated to support Exchange Server 2007, and Exchange Server 2007 incorporates the capabilities of Antigen Spam Manager. The Antigen antivirus software for SharePoint also has been updated to support SharePoint Server 2007. A similar update is due for the Antigen instant messaging (IM) product in conjunction with the release of the Communications Server IM and voice platform in 2007.