Now Available – Forefront Security for SharePoint with SP3

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:00:27 Z

Microsoft announced today the release of Forefront Security for SharePoint with Service Pack 3, which includes visibility of all actively published engines, alerts and notifications for new engine availability, and a rollup of software fixes.

Forefront Security for Exchange Server with SP2 introduces technology that will notify customers of engine changes – including the addition or elimination of engines – and allow administrators to update their engine configurations without having to deploy any new product updates. This update allows customers to accommodate engine changes effortlessly, helping maintain the high level of security provided in the Forefront server security products.

As with previous releases of Forefront Security for SharePoint, the SP3 release provides a multi-engine protection approach for superior detection of the latest threats when compared to single engine solutions. In fact, AV-Test.org has tested our products with competitors and found our detection rates have an average response time of 3-6 hours for new viruses. In contrast, competitive single-engine solutions average response times are more than 2-9 days.

Microsoft continually monitors antivirus engine quality and detection rates using internal and 3^rd party independent testing organizations. Testing for the last several years has indicated that using more than five malware engines concurrently does not improve overall detection rates. In order to develop stronger technology relationships with our antimalware partners and ensure continued customer value for the longer term, we are making available a set of five antimalware engines, with confidence that this solution will continue to offer industry leading detection rates and response times.

As an example of Microsoft’s commitment to continual improvement of our malware detection leadership, we are investing in new antispam technology through a partnership with Cloudmark that will provide an overall better antispam experience including higher detection rates, lower false positives, and improved submission and service experience. The Cloudmark engine is now included in latest service pack releases of Antigen for Exchange with Antigen Spam Manager 9.0 and Antigen for SMTP Gateways with Antigen Spam Manager 9.0 products as Beta while it undergoes customer trials. Upon the near term completion of the customer trials, it will be released by Microsoft for both the Antigen 9.0 products, as well as be included in the next generation releases of Forefront server security products later this year. More information is available on the Antimalware Engine Notifications and Developments (AMEND) TechNet page.

For more information on the Forefront Security for SharePoint service pack and engine revisions, please visit the AMEND page.