Microsoft's status quo on the security market is shaped by a concert of factors that determine the positioning of the Redmond Company in concordance with the current security developers. Natalya Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky Lab jumped at Microsoft's jugular claiming that the Redmond behemoth presents a poor reputation in the security area as a business card and fails to deliver adequate threat response speed and detection rate with OneCare.

"I am often asked about OneCare, Microsoft's commercial antivirus solution. How does this product compare to solutions from other vendors? The best way to answer this question is to look at results of comparative tests from independent laboratories. I am aware of two tests that have been conducted on the commercial version of OneCare, which is currently only available in the USA. The product has been tested twice by the AV-Test GmbH team, which is based at the University of Magdeburg in Germany and is one of the most respected independent test laboratories in the world. These tests have provided some initial findings about the quality of detection provided by OneCare," revealed Natalya Kaspersky.

Microsoft's number one handicap upon its debut on the security market is the fact that the Redmond Company has a rather poor reputation in the security area. "By default, Microsoft solutions are perceived as being insecure or full of security loopholes," comments Natalya Kaspersky. In 2006 alone, in excess of 130 Important and Critical security vulnerabilities have been reported across Microsoft's products. Moreover, Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest operating system, that has been applauded for its high level of security, is seeing its first security flaws before it is available for the general public, on January 29, 2007. Natalya Kaspersky predicted the fact that OneCare will suffer the same faith as all the other Microsoft products.

As the speed at which security developers respond to newly emerging and zero-day threats is a crucial factor of the developer's public credibility and success, Microsoft has yet to find a balance between response speed and detection accuracy. Natalya Kaspersky presented two incidents involving OneCare reporting false positives when it detected Gmail as malware. "Given Microsoft's brand and reputation, the company simply cannot allow itself to make such mistakes. As Microsoft will need to check each potential false positive with its legal department, response to new threats will inevitably be slow," stated Natalya Kaspersky.

According to data from the AV-Test GmbH at the University of Magdeburg from September of this year, OneCare has accounted for a low detection rate of 81.22%.

"I will risk making the following prediction. Microsoft's antivirus will improve its detection rates and take its place among its competitors. OneCare will offer good user features (something Microsoft has always been good at). However, OneCare is unlikely to become a leader either in terms of response time to new threats or in terms of detection rates," concluded Natalya Kaspersky.