Forefront Team Blog : Stirling

Follow Forefront on Twitter

Forefront Blogger — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:11:00 GMT

If you are a Twitter fan, be sure to follow us at http://twitter.com/MS_Forefront ! Our own John "JG" Chirapurath, senior director in the MSFT Identity and Security Business Group, is leading the Forefront Tweet charge in his typically pithy way. Come join the conversation about all things identity and security.

Joel Sider

Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server launches

Forefront Blogger — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:56:00 GMT

Today at the TechEd Europe conference, in conjunction with the launch of Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft launched Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server. The product and evaluation software is available now.

Part of our Business Ready Security strategy, Forefront Protection for Exchange (FPE) offers multiple anti-malware engines for 38 times faster detection than single engine solutions, and 99% guaranteed spam protection with only one in 250,000 spam false positives. Customers also have the choice of using the hosted Forefront Online Protection for Exchange service, or both offerings together for defense-in-depth.

Like all of our Forefront solutions, FPE is designed to help companies balance the needs of business with security requirements. Email is an extremely critical application, of course, and it presents challenges to both businesspeople and IT managers. Employees (and non-employees) needs secure access to messaging and documents from anywhere, as well as a spam-free inbox and protection from malware. On the other hand, IT must manage multiple sites and devices, ensure information protection and compliance, and ward off financially-motivated threats.

Combined with Exchange 2010 and other Microsoft identity and security technologies, FPE is part of Microsoft’s comprehensive solution for secure messaging. (It’s worth watching a video presentation on the whole solution here, in fact.)

New features in Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server include:

· Premium antispam protection, with 99% detection rate, less than 1 in 250,000 false positives, and backscatter filtering

· New user interface with dashboard view of detection statistics and health monitoring

· Antispyware scanning provided by the Microsoft Antimalware Engine

· Support for Exchange 2010, Windows PowerShell, and Hyper-V

· Standardized installation using MSI installer

Already a number of customers have deployed FPE with success. Quotes from two:

“Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server goes hand-in-hand with Exchange Server 2010. We wouldn’t put anything else for e-mail security on our Exchange Server 2010.” Jonathan Wynn, IT Manager– Del Monte Foods.

“Implementing Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server was an easy decision for us following the success of our previous Forefront Security for Exchange Server implementation.” George Podolak, Director of IT, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners

Action by Dec 1 - keep your protection current!

Forefront Blogger — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:08:00 GMT

A reminder from the Forefront Server Security blog.

As we announced on July 1, 2009, Microsoft is revising its engine mix on Dec. 1, 2009 for the Forefront and Antigen products. This change will allow customers to utilize a set of engines that help optimize detection, while also allowing us to invest in new areas for increasing overall protection for customers.

Antimalware Protection

The AhnLab, CA, and Sophos engines will be retired on Dec. 1, 2009. After December 1^st, customers will not receive any updates for these retired engines. In order to make sure your Antigen and Forefront products continue to scan efficiently and effectively for malware, any customers running the AhnLab, CA, or Sophos engines must DISABLE these engines before Dec. 1, 2009 and select from the new set of five engines – Authentium, Kaspersky, Microsoft, Norman, and VirusBuster.

SPECIAL NOTE: Antigen for SharePoint 8.0 and Antigen for Instant Messaging 8.0 customers – In order to gain access to the new engine set and provide optimal protection for your messaging and collaboration environments, please download the Service Pack 1 releases of these products on the MVLS or VLSC site prior to Dec. 1, 2009. The updates for the new engine set will use a new update infrastructure as of Dec. 31, 2009 – the Service Pack 1 releases will allow you to continue to receive updates correctly from their new location.

For more information about Service Pack 1 for Antigen for SharePoint and Antigen for IM, see the following KB article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975850/

- SPECIAL NOTE: Antigen for Exchange 8.0 and Antigen for SMTP Gateways 8.0 customers –These products will end of life on Dec. 31, 2009. Customers must upgrade to Antigen 9.0 SP2 for Exchange before this date, as the product will no longer continue to receive anti-malware updates starting Jan. 1, 2010. With the retirement of the CA, Sophos, and AhnLab engines on Dec. 1, customers running Antigen for Exchange 8.0 or Antigen SMTP Gateways 8.0 will only be protected by the Norman engine. For customers who need to continue using this product between Dec. 1, 2009 and the end-of-life date of Dec. 31, 2009, please contact Forefront Contract Administration for access to the revised engine set.

For more information on upgrading your Antigen for Exchange 8.0 or Antigen for SMTP Gateways 8.0 to Antigen 9.0, see the following KB article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932396/

Antispam Protection

One of the most important changes in our engine revision strategy is moving to the Cloudmark antispam engine*, which provides 99%+ detection rate and less than 1 in 250,000 false positives (West Coast Labs).

The Mail-Filters SpamCure antispam engine will be retired on Dec. 1, 2009. Customers using Antigen products for antispam protection must upgrade to the latest service pack releases listed below BEFORE DEC. 1, 2009 to maintain their antispam defenses. This is the only way to gain access to the new Cloudmark engine. The service packs can be accessed on the Microsoft MVLS and VLSC sites:

- Antigen for Exchange Server with Antigen Spam Manager 9.0 with SP2

- Antigen for SMTP Gateways with Antigen Spam Manager 9.0 with SP2

For more information on the engine revision strategy, see the Antimalware Engine Notifications and Developments Web page or contact Forefront Contract Administration . Again, we strongly urge all customers to update to the newest service packs before Dec. 1, 2009 to get the full protection benefits of the Forefront and Antigen server products.

*Please note: Customers using Forefront Security for Exchange Server will get access to the Cloudmark engine in the next version release – Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server – scheduled to be available in Q4 CY09.

Brita Jenquin

Sr. Product Manager

Direct Access and UAG video - Deep dive with a Program Manager

Forefront Blogger — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:15:00 GMT

Ben Bernstein and Stephen Bowie tell us what the value is for Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) with Direct Access (DA).

After this, we do a whiteboard of UAG + DA architecture, including explaining how it works with multiple UAG servers. Here's how the rest of the interview breaks down:

How UAG supports legacy IPv4 clients (Marker 3 @ 8:02)

How does the client know to connect to the proper DNS server and not the one from the local ISP? (Marker 4 @ 13:17)

How do we know it's securely talking to the proper DNS server? (Marker 5 @ 15:01)

What other components on UAG enable DA? (Marker 6 @ 16:10)

Additional value add for UAG with DA (Marker 7 @ 17:55)

http://edge.technet.com/Media/Direct-Access-and-UAG-video-Deep-dive-with-a-Program-Manager/

Schedule and Strategy Update for Forefront Endpoint Protection

Forefront Blogger — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:00:00 GMT

Today we are announcing a schedule and strategy update for Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010, a component of the upcoming Forefront Protection Suite (previously codenamed “Stirling.”)

We are delaying the release Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 - anti-malware for Windows desktops and servers - until the second half of 2010. Based on customer feedback and market trends, we have made the strategic decision to build Forefront Endpoint Protection (FEP) on System Center Configuration Manager, Microsoft’s solution to comprehensively assess, deploy, and update servers, clients, and devices. This approach better aligns our customers’ client management and security infrastructure, helping simplify deployment and reduce costs.

We are confident this is the right decision for our customers. In the interim, we will continue to offer our current Forefront Client Security (FCS) solution, which supports and protects both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. We are developing the necessary tools and guidance to facilitate the future upgrade from Forefront Client Security to Forefront Endpoint Protection and will help customers with the migration process.

We also remain committed to providing integrated management for the Forefront Protection Suite. We will release Forefront Protection Manager in the first half of 2010, as scheduled, providing multi-server management for Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server and Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint. We will provide information about endpoint security management in Forefront Protection Manager at a later time.

We are on track to release all other Forefront products on schedule, as part of our Business Ready Security strategy:

o Fourth quarter 2009: Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server, Forefront Online Protection for Exchange, Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 and Forefront Unified Access Gateway 2010

o First half 2010: Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint, Forefront Identity Manager 2010.

The Forefront team

Steve Ballmer on The New Efficiency

Forefront Blogger — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:56:00 GMT

Making business decisions regarding IT investment is tougher than ever. To help, today Microsoft hosted a special VIP Business Leadership Roundtable event. CEO Steve Ballmer and moderator Robert Youngjohns, President of the Microsoft US Subsidiary, discussed major trends in the new role of technology in the workplace. Ballmer and Youngjohns were joined by a panel of early adopter customers representing key industries like automotive, hospitality, transportation and IT. Attendees got a close look at how real companies are making IT investments across the desktop, server, network and beyond.

How IT needs to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated users
The ever more mobile and distributed workforce, and
The impact of greater industry regulations and ongoing threats to data.

Forefront identity and security solutions, and our Business Ready Security strategy, are core parts of the way Microsoft is helping customers tackle these issues. You can view highlights of today's event and get lots of info on the range of Microsoft IT solutions - including a Business Ready Security overview, Secure Messaging, Secure Collaboration, Identity and Access Management and Information Protection at www.TheNewEfficiency.com

CERN replaces Symantec with Forefront

Forefront Blogger — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:58:00 GMT

CERN - the European Organization for Nuclear Research - recently announced in its computing newsletter that it is replacing Symantec with Forefront Client Security to protect PCs on its network. Why? From the newsletter:

By the end of this year, all NICE PCs will have MS Forefront Client Security installed. This new anti-virus and anti-malware application will replace the current anti-virus product from Symantec. The reasons for this change include the small footprint of the client application, excellent response times for pattern updates and very good integration with the existing NICE infrastructure.

Forefront tops VB100

Forefront Blogger — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:34:00 GMT

British tech publication V3.co.uk recently posted an article with the headline Third of anti-virus vendors fail to protect Vista.

The latest tests conducted by independent anti-virus testing organization Virus Bulletin have revealed that 12 out of 35 top security vendors failed the stringent VB100 test which pits security systems against the publicly available WildList of malware known to be circulating. Products must be able to detect 100 per cent of the malware, and must not generate any false alarms when scanning a clean set of files,

In the V3.co.UK article John Hawes of Virus Bulletin said that Microsoft came out "top on the proactive side by a whisker, and pretty good on the reactive side", highlighting the significant time and resources Microsoft is putting into security under its Forefront brand.

ID and Security in the Cloud

Forefront Blogger — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 22:50:00 GMT

Many companies and IT leaders are eager to realize the benefits of cloud computing, but security is often a concern. For example, a recent study by Maritz Research found that 59% of IT leaders in the US rated security as the biggest risk with cloud.

As part of our Business Ready Security strategy , we are taking a comprehensive approach to security across on-site and cloud infrastructure. This encompasses protection, access and management, all built around user identity and integrated with a highly secure, interoperable platform for a broad set of partner solutions. (At the Worldwide Partner Conference on 7/13, we also announced the official names of the products comprising the Forefront Protection Suite, previously known as codename “Stirling”, in an effort to align our portfolio with this broader definition of security.)

We are delivering both standalone security services and security technologies within Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure. Forefront Online Protection for Exchange is an example of a standalone service solution, providing email security for both on premise Exchange Server and Exchange Online (and other on-premise messaging systems.) Another example is System Center Online Desktop Manager, available in beta by the end of the year. It is an integrated security and management tool that will provide desktop management capabilities in the form of an online service.

Identity is a core part of our strategy, because it allows for more contextual protection and access to information and resources. With our Forefront platform, on-premise identities, such as those in Active Directory, work with cloud services. That enables simplified, secure user access to applications, such as Exchange, regardless of where the application is hosted.

Forefront's identity provisioning/de-provisioning and access management empower customers to integrate their investments in Active Directory and existing identities with cloud infrastructure. And, with solutions like Rights Management Services, in the future customers will be able to enforce persistent, identity-based policies around data anywhere it is stored, sent, or accessed - including the cloud.

We are also providing fundamental identity components for Microsoft cloud services, such as the Azure Services Platform. The Microsoft Services Connector, for example, extends identities from on premises systems to cloud services. The .Net Access Control Service issues and manages identity “claims.” Both are based on the next generation of Active Directory Federation Services, Windows Cardspace, and Windows Identity Foundation which comprise an open platform for simplified user access that works across organization boundaries for on-premise and cloud-based applications. Beta 2 of all three components is currently available.

Forefront Unified Access Gateway beta 2

Forefront Blogger — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:04:00 GMT

I’m very pleased to announce that today Forefront Unified Access Gateway Beta 2 is available for download from www.microsoft.com/uag . This beta release marks an important milestone in Microsoft’s remote access strategy as it brings together a host of access technologies into one environment.

Chances are you are reading this post from your laptop… and if you’re not currently outside of the corporate network, chances are you will be later today… You might be at home checking your email and getting some last minute work items done… That’s what UAG is all about! It’s about making sure that you, the user, remain as productive as you need to be regardless of what machine or network you are accessing from. Of course, it’s also about making sure that your company’s network and assets remain secure as you work remotely.

We know that when they say that “one size fits all”, it usually means that it fits some people well and the rest of us need to compromise. The same is true with remote access... Each technology is best suited for a different scenario/environment and the trick is to make sure you get the right one for the right task. A VPN client would be overkill for casual access from a kiosk or stealing a minute of time on your friend’s PC at home to check email… On the other hand, being limited to web-access only from your corporate laptop will leave you unfulfilled and wanting more. Unfulfilled, in this case also means: unproductive. That said, having multiple methods of remote access also translates to multiple $$$’s. Each environment needs to be well-managed, supported, scaled, etc. No less important is that each user needs to remember which environment is best to use in which scenario to easily achieve productivity. This means you’re doing less with more and that’s not good… and not just in this economy.

So here’s how UAG solves the problem…. It brings together a variety of remote access technologies such as DirectAccess, SSL VPN, Remote Desktop, web publishing, etc. under one roof and one user/admin experience. This way, administrators can easily roll out access to every type of user (employees, partners, etc) from virtually every location (corporate laptop, home PC, borrowed PC, kiosk, PDAs, etc). Users, in turn, get a simple and straightforward experience that adapts to the level of security of device they are using. If they come in from a corporate machine, they can get full connectivity through DirectAccess or for down-level PCs - SSL VPN. If they come from home PCs or borrowed PCs access policies will be tailored to their specific security. For instance, if they don’t practice safe-computing and don’t have an Anti-Malware software installed, running and up-to-date – UAG can decide to block access to uploads so no potentially harmful files will reach the network. If the user has an updated AV we may allow uploads but consider blocking downloads based on whether or not the Endpoint Session Cleanup (formerly: Attachment Wiper) can run to clean up any residue or temp files.

The policy options are limitless but they are also simple. Built in policies and administrative wizards help guide through setting up SharePoint, Exchange, DirectAccess, Terminal Services and much more….

The features I’m most excited about in UAG are our enhancements for DirectAccess. DirectAccess is really the next step of remote access and provides the best user experience possible. Wherever you may roam, you are simply connected, always-on, to corpnet. There is no need to open a VPN client, wait for connectivity, etc… You simply login and you are connected! What UAG brings to the table is a variety of capabilities to help simplify deployment and management, extend access to older servers and clients and grow the scale of the deployment. If you’re not yet looking at DirectAccess for your organization, you should…. And if you’re looking at DirectAccess you should look at UAG!

I could go on and on about the features and capabilities but why hear it from me?! Go and download the beta and see for yourself.

For more information you may want to try:

· The UAG engineering blog

· UAG website

· UAG TechNet Center

· DirectAccess site and UAG DirectAccess page.

Uri Lichtenfeld

Product Manager - UAG

Business Ready Security news at WPC

Forefront Blogger — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:01:00 GMT

This week in New Orleans Microsoft is hosting its annual Worldwide Partner Conference. We made several announcements today at the conference about our identity and security solutions. This news is part of our Business Ready Security strategy to help both partners and customers 1) protect everywhere and access anywhere, 2) integrate and extend security across the enterprise, and 3) simplify the security experience and manage compliance

Official names and pricing for “Stirling”

Forefront codename “Stirling” - the next generation of the Forefront Security Suite for integrated, comprehensive protection across endpoints, servers and the edge – will be officially known as Forefront Protection Suite (FPS).

FPS will include the products in the current suite, plus the Forefront Protection Manager (formerly known as the “Stirling” management console) and the Forefront Threat Management Gateway Web Security Service.

FPS pricing will remain the same as the current Forefront Security Suite and all of the component solutions will continue to be licensed on a subscription basis. They will also be available independently, with Forefront Protection Manager included. (Note that the Forefront Threat Management Gateway license is sold separately on a per processor basis.)

At WPC we are also announcing the following new product solution names:

· Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 - current version is Forefront Client Security

· Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server - current version is Forefront Security for Exchange Server

· Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint - current version is Forefront Security for SharePoint

· Forefront Online Protection for Exchange - currently called Forefront Online Security for Exchange

· Forefront Threat Management Gateway Web Security Service - the next generation of ISA Server 2006.

The new FPS solutions are currently in beta and final versions will ship over the course of the latter half of 2009 and the first half of 2010.

Public beta 2 of Forefront Unified Access Gateway

Forefront Unified Access Gateway beta 2 is available for download at www.microsoft.com/forefront. UAG provides secure, virtually anywhere access to messaging, collaboration and other applications, increasing productivity and policy compliance. UAG also extends the benefits of Windows DirectAccess across the enterprise, enhancing scalability, deployment and management.

Official name for “Geneva”

The three components of Microsoft “Geneva” – the upcoming open platform providing simplified user access and single sign-on for cloud and on-premises applications – have the following names:

· Active Directory Federation Services – formerly known as “Geneva” Server

· Windows Identity Foundation – formerly known as “Geneva” Framework

· Windows Cardspace – same as current version

Partner opportunities

At WPC partners will learn about how the solutions above offer tremendous opportunity to better meet the identity and security needs of customers...and to build their own businesses. Since announcing a $75 million investment in our partner ecosystem at WPC last year, we have seen very strong partner development and growth.

For example, we have seen a 50% increase in participation in the Security Software Advisors (SSA) program, which offers fees to partners who influence deployment. The Security Solutions Competency, which enables partners to differentiate themselves as experts, is one of the fastest growing competencies in Microsoft’s history and in the last year grew 46% in participation. This year we anticipate quadrupling the number of identity and security partners we support with training, marketing and customer engagement.

The multi-engine advantage...and updates

Forefront Blogger — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:33:00 GMT

Today we posted a white paper about the Microsoft antimalware engine strategy and changes beginning December 1, 2009. A summary is below - read the full document for a complete overview.

Forefront server security products - such as Forefront Secrurity for Exchange, Forefront Security for Sharepoint and Forefront Security for Office Communications Server incorporate a multi-engine strategy, using both Microsoft and industry-leading security partner technology to consistently drive high detection rates. They also include an advanced multiple engine manager that allows customers to concurrently configure up to five engines. Using multiple scanning engines delivers several critical advantages:

It increases the chances that emerging threats will be caught quickly.
It provides redundancy to help protect against scan failures or defects in individual engines; if an engine fails, other engines continue scanning messages.
It gives administrators an effective way to choose the most appropriate level of protection for their environment given their security needs and server performance capabilities.
It allows engines to be taken offline for updates or reconfiguration without forcing messages or documents to be queued.

Tests performed quarterly by the independent AV-Test.org group have shown that the multi-engine set for Forefront security products rates highest in response times for “in the wild” viruses and variants. We have found that having multiple engines consistently provides the highest detection rates against the competition with average response time of 3-6 hours for new viruses versus competitive single-engine solutions average response times are more than 2-9 days (as noted in recent AV-Test.org data.)

In order to further develop stronger technology relationships with our antimalware partners and ensure continued customer value for the longer term, we are standardizing on a set of five antimalware engines moving forward. We are confident that this solution will continue to provide equal or better detection rates and response times than the industry’s other leading solutions.

What does this mean for Microsoft and its customers? The current and next generation of Forefront server security products, including Antigen, will include five antimalware engines as part of an ongoing strategy to maximize and maintain our malware detection advantages, as well as make investments in other areas that will increase overall protection for our customers.

Customers will be able to take advantage of these new enhancements and engine changes after deploying the Antigen and Forefront service packs released on July 1, 2009. These service packs will allow customers to move to the new set of five engines as well as additional engine changes that Microsoft may release after December 1, 2009.

Forefront: CCTM Certified for UK government use

Forefront Blogger — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:12:00 GMT

Last week West Coast Labs announced that Forefront Client Security has received the CESG Claims Tested Mark (CCTM),which provides a government quality mark for malware detection and performance, based on accredited independent testing. CESG is the UK government's National Technical Authority for Information Assurance. Their stamp of approval means UK government departments can reliably look to Forefront for endpoint protection.

The certification is designed to attest to the overall effectiveness and performance ofaproducts providing protection from a wide variety of security threats (malware, spam, URLs, etc. It is the fastest growing certification systems for information security products and services and is a highly regarded accreditation program.

Survey says: Security the top challenge for IT pros

Forefront Blogger — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:15:00 GMT

Today Microsoft released findings from a survey of 1200+ IT professionals in the US, UK, Germany and Japan. Some of the top findings about their opinions on IT in a recession, priorities and where they are investing are here. Among the most interesting results are related to security, such as:

· IT pros cite security as the number one challenge in managing infrastructure (above some other big challenges, such as uptime, resource utilization, systems management, end-user support, sprawling datacenters and interoperability.)

· Protection of customer and company data is the top security priority, above other activities including security systems management (#2), compliance and governance, identity management and adopting hosted security services.

· A majority of IT pros view security as an enabler of business. More than half think that IT security responsibilities include advancing overall business goals (52%) and increasing end-user productivity (51%)

The Microsoft take? We agree! Security remains too complex and expensive, and it should facilitate business collaboration, empower people and help organizations achieve their goals. That’s why we are taking a different, broader approach with Business Ready Security.

For an example of a company using identity and security solutions to grow in a challenging environment, watch this video about NuStar Energy.

NuStar Energy Tightens Protection by using Business-Ready Security Solutions

For more information, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/infrastructure/resources/itprosurvey.mspx

Microsoft Security Essentials (formerly 'Morro') and Forefront

Forefront Blogger — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:20:00 GMT

Today, Microsoft released a public beta of its new, free consumer anti-malware product codenamed “Morro”, which now has an official product name: Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). This new solution will address the growing need for a PC security solution tailored to the demands of emerging markets. You may remember that “Morro” was originally unveiled back in November 2008 after we announced the discontinuation of retail sales for Windows Live OneCare subscription service effective June 30, 2009. As we described in this blog last year, Microsoft Security Essentials is intended for consumers, not business customers. Microsoft continues to offer security solutions for businesses with the Forefront line of products as part of its Business Ready Security strategy.

It is important to note that MSE will have a very positive impact on Forefront, because it allows Microsoft to capture even more threat intelligence from customers as more people use the free anti-malware solution. We'll be able to use that information to help extend our security research and in the development of signatures and protection capabilities in our Forefront products, which are being deployed by increasing numbers of enterprises today, with thousands of Microsoft security partners certified to sell and deploy Forefront solutions. And, of course, there's an exciting road ahead for Forefront as we release a brand new set of products for this family in our next fiscal year under the codename "Stirling".

Key points about Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE)

· The MSE beta will become available to the first 75,000 visitors to www.microsoft.com/security_essentials starting Tuesday, June 23, 2009. An English language version will be available to beta testers in the U.S. and Israel, and a Brazilian Portuguese version will be available in Brazil. Support for Simplified Chinese in China is scheduled to follow shortly after initial beta release.

· MSE release (RTM) is scheduled for H2 2009 in 10 languages and in the following 20 markets: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.

· MSE will include new protection technology, as part of the Microsoft anti-malware engine, called “Dynamic Signature Service (DSS)” which delivers real-time threat signature updates to the client when it detects something suspicious, whether code or behavior. As we mentioned previously in April, Forefront Client Security 2.0 will also include DSS when it releases in H1 2010.

· MSE is designed for consumers and will be offered as a free download separate from Windows (including Windows 7).