Microsoft Releases Business Antivirus

Microsoft on Tuesday took the wraps off its Antigen lineup of security products for e-mail, which include antivirus and anti-spam protection that the Redmond company acquired from Sybari Software in 2005. Four offerings will initially make up the Microsoft Antigen brand.

Antigen for Exchange integrates into Exchange Server 2003 and 2000 to stop viruses and other malicious content from reaching a corporate network, as well as containing internal outbreaks. Antigen for SMTP Gateways provides similar features for Windows Server systems running a mail server.

Antigen Spam Manager offers anti-spam and content filtering services to both Windows Server and Exchange Server setups. Microsoft is offering all three utilities in a single package called Antigen Messaging Security Suite.

Antigen Enterprise Manager, meanwhile, provides a centralized application for managing Antigen-enabled servers. From there, administrators can configure settings and setup content filtering rules. Microsoft is additionally making available a management pack plug-in for Microsoft Operations Manager 2005.

All of the Antigen products utilize multiple scanning engines from companies including AhnLab, Authentium, CA, Kaspersky Lab, MailFilters.com, Norman Data Defense Systems, Sophos and VirusBuster. Microsoft has also bolstered the products with its new in-house anti-virus engine, which it acquired from GeCAD Software in 2003.

Microsoft's anti-virus engine made its first appearance last week in Windows OneCare, which is now available from retail outlets and online.

A three-month trial license for the Antigen e-mail security products is now available from Microsoft. The products will begin shipping on July 1. Antigen for Sharepoint and Antigen for Instant Messaging will remain Sybari-branded products until the next versions are released in the first half of 2007.