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Thu Nov 20, 3:35 PM ET |
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Michael Y. Park, www.enterprise-windows-it.com
Furthering its partnership with Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) Protect Your PC program, Islandia, New York-based Computer Associates on Tuesday announced that it would be offering free year-long subscriptions to its Trust EZ Armor antivirus and firewall desktop-security suite to qualified Windows home users.
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This is a foray into a relatively new field for a company known primarily as a security group that caters to the enterprise (news - web sites) market. In targeting home users, CA is treading on ground patrolled by companies like Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC - news) -- but it is downplaying the idea that the offer is a direct challenge.
Putting a Lock on the Back Door
Instead, the new program should be viewed as a sign of CA's commitment to furthering computer security everywhere, says Ian Hameroff, director of eTrust security solutions -- and especially as a move that could help enterprises repair increasingly vulnerable chinks in their own armor.
"It resonates in enterprise exceedingly well," Hameroff told NewsFactor. "Take some of the recent attacks, like SoBig. Enterprise has done a lot of things to put in place antiviral software, dedicated I.T. teams, enforcement policies and so on, making it difficult for virus makers to use enterprises to launch their virus attacks. What's evident now is the that virus users are switching to target home-computer users.
"If our enterprises encourage their workers to use CA to reduce the risk of attacks from home-user space, we're going a long way to eradicating the danger to the entire enterprise business. Otherwise, it's like having a Sherman tank with the front door open. We're providing Microsoft users the last piece of armor to complete their security."
Bill and Me
The free download is closely associated with Microsoft's Protect Your PC program, launched a few weeks ago after much-publicized criticism of the Redmond, Washington-based company's security for its dominant Windows program.
"I think the partnership, which is something that Microsoft and CA approached together, is a further realization of what needs to be done to reduce the threats on the Internet," Hameroff said. "It's not that the Microsoft platform is weak or that one is better than the other. It's just that we need to see a way to protect against the thousands of [viruses] out there."
The free download, normally US$49.95, is available through June 30, 2004. It includes AV protection, personal firewall and daily antiviral updates.
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