Microsoft Releases Free Anti-Spyware Software
Responding to escalating complaints, Microsoft Corp. on Thursday released a free tool to erase spyware from its flagship Windows operating system. The company plans to offer a virus-removal program this month.
The anti-spyware software, which eliminates programs that generate unwanted pop-up ads and secretly record a computer user’s activities, is based on a program from Giant Company Software Inc., which Microsoft acquired last month for an undisclosed amount.
Windows AntiSpyware was launched in beta, or test, mode on Microsoft’s website. The anti-virus software will be available Tuesday.
The two programs are part of an effort by the Redmond, Wash.-based company to offer its own computer and Internet security software. Microsoft also is preparing a subscription service to provide regular updates for such software.
Shares of the two largest computer security software vendors, Cupertino, Calif.-based Symantec Corp. and Santa Clara, Calif.-based McAfee Inc., fell sharply after Microsoft released details about its plans.
Symantec shares dropped $1.86 to $23.18 on Nasdaq, and McAfee shares fell $1.48 to $25.15 on the New York Stock Exchange. Microsoft shares lost 3 cents to $26.75 on Nasdaq.
Microsoft has been working for the last three years to improve the security and reliability of its software under its Trustworthy Computing initiative, as more malicious software targets weaknesses in Windows and other Microsoft software.
“Microsoft has been getting so much heat about security flaws in their browser and operating system it’s probably damaged the franchise a bit,” said Tony Ursillo, an analyst who helps manage $56 billion at Loomis Sayles & Co. in Boston, including 4.7 million Microsoft shares. “This is a necessary step for Microsoft. The gravy is these are good businesses.”
Microsoft developed the tools after requests from Internet service providers and its own product support personnel who reported that many machines were still infected weeks after the Blaster and MyDoom viruses began spreading last year, said Mike Nash, Microsoft’s vice president for security products.
Nash declined to comment about when Microsoft planned to offer its anti-virus subscription program or whether that product would include anti- spyware technology. Microsoft is leaning toward combining several computer-protection products, he said, because “customers say that they want to simplify and consolidate the process of keeping their PC safe and secure.”
“More comprehensive and more integrated -- thematically that’s where we are headed,” he said.
Bloomberg News and Reuters were used in compiling this report.
