Microsoft says it will try harder to make sure its
Windows Live OneCare anti-virus product does the job and fully
protects customers.
In recent independent benchmarking tests against viruses,
OneCare has not come up to the mark, a situation acknowledged by
Microsoft.
Jimmy Kuo, a leading member of the Microsoft Security Research
& Response team (MSRR), said in a Microsoft blog, “Recently,
there have been some tests that have brought into question the
detection capability of Windows Live OneCare. Customers and
partners have asked us to address these concerns.”
Kuo admitted “recent detection numbers were not stellar”. Virus
Bulletin, for instance, described by Kuo as “the industry rag”, was
unable to give Microsoft its sought-after VB100 award because
OneCare was unable to pick up a major virus.
Kuo acknowledged that Virus Bulletin’s decision was important as
“they have the most highly respected and longest running tests, and
in so doing, set many of the industry’s testing standards”.
Kuo said Microsoft would now “look more closely at families of
viruses that have been found to be in the wild. We want to be able
to detect them with signatures we write today rather than after
they’ve been loosed upon the public”.
The idea is that Microsoft prepares signatures to cope with
future variations of basically the same virus, something many
suppliers already attempt to do.
No Patch Tuesday this month
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