Microsoft’s new Forefront Client Security and System Center Essentials 2007 earned some positive reactions from analysts while some of the company’s competitor are pointing out potential shortcomings, according to Sci-Tech Today.

Forefront Client Security is designed to protect business desktops, laptops, and servers from viruses, spyware, Trojans, and other malicious threats by way of giving visibility into threats and vulnerabilities through a central management console.

Microsoft claimed that Forefront Client Security has achieved West Coast Labs Checkmark certification, a global standard that certifies information security products to real-world standards. It integrates with another new Microsoft product, System Center Essentials 2007, as well as Active Directory services.

System Center Essentials 2007 is a management solution targeted to midsize organizations to help their technical professionals. The solution features a single console from which Information Technology (IT) admins can view and manage servers, clients, hardware Relevant Products/Services, software, and I.T. services.

“Customers are under increasing pressure to manage the complexity of today’s business environment while protecting information against an ever-evolving array of threats,” Microsoft Senior Vice President Bob Muglia said in a statement. Muglia is betting Redmond’s products will help companies overcome some of the challenges associated with protecting I.T. environments.

Kevin Hayden, manager of the Desktop Engineering Group at Analog Devices, said “The integration between Microsoft Forefront security and System Center management solutions, along with other Microsoft technologies such as Active Directory, makes it easier for us to deploy, secure, manage, and report on our desktop environment.”

Scott Crawford, a senior analyst at Enterprise Management Associates, on the other hand, agrees that the new security tools will make it easier for customers to secure and manage their infrastructure and giving them greater control over their I.T. environment.

However, Brian Foster, senior director of product management at Symantec, questions Microsoft’s ability to offer the technology, information, and experience necessary to provide customers a high level of protection.

“From what Microsoft has said publicly, Forefront Client Security is based off the same antivirus and antispyware technology as its OneCare product,” Foster said, stressing that OneCare has come up short in multiple third-party antivirus tests, including the latest Virus Bulletin, which is widely considered to be a key benchmark test for antivirus engines.

Foster added that as threats to today’s environment continue to evolve in complexity and frequency, a more advanced and integrated protection will be required. He noted Symantec’s upcoming Hamlet product, which combines signature-based protection and proactive protection from zero-day threats in a single agent, managed from a single console, as a better solution.

Analysts, however, cannot compare the products because, as Foster admitted, the Hamlet product is not yet available.

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Entry was posted on Thursday, May 3rd, 2007 at 7:41 pm under Technology.

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