The launch ofMicrosoft Security Essentialsshould be commended,
writes Thorsten Holz, an IEEE member and researcher at the
Technical University of Vienna.
The tool, which provides real-time protection against worms,
spyware, and other kinds of malicious software, is
available
free of charge from Microsoft's security site.
This move by Microsoft will raise the bar for baseline security
and will allow more users to have basic protection by installing
anti-virus software. There are already several anti-virus companies
that offer free anti-virus engines, but given Microsoft's reach,
Microsoft Security Essentials should be able to offer a better
solution.
Microsoft should include signatures for the most common cyber
viruses, such as Waledac, ZeuS, and other prominent families of
malware. By eliminating these more common threats from computers,
more machines can be disinfected, leading to less infected machines
worldwide.
Microsoft's move will also have a big impact on e-commerce.
Consumers using Microsoft Security Essentials will be able to put
more trust in their operating system, which in turn will shift the
issue of liability for online fraud to the companies or banks
involved.
For example, if a customer loses money due to a keylogger, they
can now claim that they have all the necessary protective
mechanisms in place. The onus is now on the banks and retailers to
implement mechanisms to better protect the customer's online
transactions, for example, introducing a number that authenticates
each transaction.
The benefits Microsoft Security Essentials provides to the
consumer are many. While there are other companies that offer a
free anti-virus solution, this offer is especially interesting as
it enables a far wider range of people to have an anti-virus
system.
Microsoft is also in a better position to integrate the software
into Windows, hopefully making installing and maintaining Security
Essentials easy enough for the average user.
But perhaps most importantly, in a time where computers seem to
be persistently under attack, this new tool will raise the
awareness of the threats that are out there on the internet.
Businesses and consumers need to be constantly vigilant and
anything that encourages this should be welcomed.
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