Multiple Engines for IM Environments Security via Forefront

Microsoft is boasting the advantages delivered by using multiple antimalware engines in it security solution for corporate IM environments. Forefront Security for Office Communications Server is just such a product, the Redmond company emphasized, indicating that customers benefit from antimalware engines developed in-house, as well as from alternatives built by industry partners in the same package. At the same time, Microsoft has the data necessary to prove its point. In a test performed by AVTest.org, the Forefront Security for Office Communications Server had an average detection time of under one hour for 75 problematic pieces of malicious code, while three competitive single engine solutions averaged 32 hours, 34 hours and 124 hours respectively.

“Multiple engines provide many advantages, which include: increasing the chance that any single threat to your instant messaging environment will be caught; providing redundancy against scan failures or defects in individual engines; eliminating downtime during engines updates – if an engine goes offline for updates, the remaining engines continue to scan IM traffic,” revealed Brita Jenquin, Sr. Product Manager Forefront Security Products.

Out of the 244 samples of malware used in the AVTest.org, 169 were detected proactively by all solutions with no problems. But when it came down to the remaining 75, Forefront Security for Office Communications Server left single-engine rivals in the dust, although Microsoft did not disclose the name of the competitor products. However, Jenquin did reveal that Microsoft worked in collaboration with AVTest.org for the test.

[IMG=2]“We continually monitor antimalware engine quality and detection rates using internal and 3rd party independent testing organizations to ensure we are providing comprehensive protection for customers,” Jenquin added. “The results show that Forefront Security for Office Communications Server multi-engine solution provides much faster, more effective protection against the latest threats than single-engine vendors.”

Forefront Security for Office Communications Server RTM is available for download here.