Microsoft has made its corporate AV client beta available for public download following a period of limited testing. The beta version of its Forefront Client Security desktop software addressing corporate environments is a stage in Microsoft's advance on the security solutions market dominated by Symantec and McAfee.

"Forefront Client Security is a new product that helps protect desktops, laptops and server operating systems against emerging threats such as spyware and rootkits, as well as traditional threats like viruses, worms and Trojan horses. Forefront Client Security has been specifically designed to address the needs of the IT security administrator. The product delivers simplified administration and critical visibility into threats while easily integrating into the existing environment," explained Ted Kummert, corporate vice president, Security, Access and Solutions Division at Microsoft.

Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft stated at the Barcelona TechEd: IT Forum that Forefront Client Security is an integer part of the Redmond Company's promise of increased protection and secure infrastructure access.

"Keeping our infrastructure safe from the ever-evolving threat of spam and viruses is of utmost importance to our organization, and we are excited to leverage new innovations from this next-generation product portfolio to better secure our IT assets," said Andreas Zit, senior consultant in the Business Infrastructure Department at T-Systems Austria. "Based on our early evaluation of Exchange Server 2007 and Forefront Security for Exchange Server, we are confident that the combination of these two products will help ensure we have a secure and resilient messaging environment."

Microsoft also revealed that Forefront Security for Exchange Server and Forefront Security for SharePoint, currently in beta stage, will be made available to volume license customers come December 2006. Both products are based on Sybari Antigen security products and include nine scanning engines structured into a tiered solution.