Due to be in beta by the end of 2005, the Microsoft Client Protection product is designed to protect systems against common threats like spyware, worms and viruses.

The software will give I.T. administrators the ability to centrally manage the protection capabilities through the company's Active Directory technology and with Windows server update services.

Strong Medicine

Microsoft also noted that in addition to being close to releasing Client Protection, the company is set to release Microsoft Antigen for Exchange, an antivirus software for e-mail servers.

The application comes out of the company's acquisition of Sybari Software, which was completed in June. Microsoft purchased the company to gain its security technology for messaging and collaboration servers.

Further fruit from the acquisition is due out in beta next year, when more Microsoft-branded Antigen products will appear, including protection for SMTP gateways and spam.

Also due to be released is the Microsoft Antigen Enterprise Manager, which Microsoft announced but has not yet detailed.

Security Focus

The Client Protection product and Antigen are part of a larger, sweeping plan at Microsoft to focus more strongly on security. Unveiled at the same time as the product is the creation of a consortium, the SecureIT Alliance, that brings together security vendors to develop products on the Microsoft platform.

What remains to be seen is whether the new products and the consortium will silence the company's many critics, who have accused Microsoft of being sluggish in implementing security protections and policies.

"Part of what Microsoft will have to address with security offerings is the perception of how the company handles security," said Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio.

"Microsoft is a major target for hackers, but it's also got a bull's-eye on its forehead for critics who don't like how they handle patches and problems," she said. "The company has been trying to address their concerns through products and services, but at some point, it'll have to address those perceptions more directly."