Microsoft forms anti-virus alliance


21 May 2003

Microsoft has announced an alliance with two anti-virus companies aimed at providing customers with information on threats to its software. Many virus attacks in recent times, such as Code Red, have exploited flaws in Microsoft products.

The new Virus Information Alliance (VIA) teams the software giant up with Network Associates and Trend Micro. According to Microsoft, the new resource addresses the need for a centralised resource of reliable information about high-risk viruses.

The alliance with Network Associates’ AVERT (Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team) and Trend Micro’s TrendLabs is designed to enable Microsoft customers to be kept informed about malicious code and Internet threats, including a full assessment of the threat based on the collective research results of the VIA, through a TechNet webpage.

“Providing customers with timely and prescriptive security information plays a crucial role in our ability as an industry to deliver on the Trustworthy Computing vision,” said Andy Erlandson, director of security for Product Support Services at Microsoft.

By Dick O’Brien