Posted on 12/17/2004 4:26:44 AM PST by goldstategop
Microsoft Acquires Anti-Spyware Leader GIANT Company
New Offerings Will Help Customers Keep SpywareAnd Other Deceptive Software Off Their Computers
REDMOND, Wash. -- Dec. 16, 2004 -- Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has acquired GIANT Company Software Inc., a provider of top-rated anti-spyware and Internet security products. Microsoft will use intellectual property and technology assets from the acquisition to provide Microsoft® Windows® customers with new tools to help protect them from the threat of spyware and other deceptive software. In addition, key personnel from GIANT Company will be joining Microsoft's security efforts.
"Spyware is a serious and growing problem for PC users, and customers have made it clear that they want Microsoft to deliver effective solutions to protect against the threat," said Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Business and Technology Unit at Microsoft. "Through this acquisition we're excited to be able to provide near-term relief to Windows customers by offering new technology to help keep spyware and other deceptive software off their PCs."
Microsoft plans to make available to Windows customers a beta version of a spyware protection, detection and removal tool, based on the GIANT AntiSpyware product, within one month. The upcoming beta will scan a customer's PC to locate spyware and other deceptive software threats and enable customers to remove them. The tool will be configurable to block known spyware and other unwanted software from being installed on the computer. It will be available for Microsoft Windows 2000 and later versions.
Spyware is an emerging breed of malicious software that can range from unwanted pop-up ads to unseen programs that record keystrokes or take over a person's PC. Spyware and other unwanted software can slow PC performance, change a computer's configuration, and steal passwords and personal information. A November 2004 IDC study estimated that 67 percent of consumer PCs are infected with some form of spyware.
"Spyware is an industrywide challenge, and it is encouraging to see Microsoft take strong action to protect Windows users," said Chris Christiansen, vice president of security products and services program at IDC. "This announcement and the release of the free beta will help consumers regain control over their PCs."
"Microsoft's investment in GIANT Company means Windows customers will benefit from our anti-spyware technology, which puts the control of software back into the hands of users where it belongs," said Ron Franczyk, co-founder and president of technology at GIANT Company. "The GIANT solution uses extensive spyware-signature databases, real-time security agents and an innovative 'neighborhood watch' for spyware to protect customers from the threat of spyware and other deceptive software."
Terms of the acquisition were not announced. Details of the Microsoft solution beyond the planned beta, including product plans, pricing and a timeline for delivery, are not yet available. The anti-spyware technology will complement the enhanced security features available in Windows XP Service Pack 2 to provide a higher level of protection for Web browsing and other Internet computing activities. Microsoft strongly recommends that customers use an anti-spyware solution in addition to following the three simple steps outlined at http://www.microsoft.com/protect: Use an Internet firewall on all PCs, update all PCs regularly with the latest security updates, and use up-to-date antivirus software.
Good! We may now have one click protection!
They're releasing a beta in a month. It looks like it will incorporate the best of Ad-aware and Javacool's Spyblaster.
It is the near 100% utilization of Microsoft IE and Windows that enable the Spyware makers to get such dramatic penetration.
If everyone in the world has the same lock, a crook only needs one key.
Windows runs on 90% of the world's computers. Spyware writers write scumware for Windows cause like Willie Sutton once said about banks - "that's where the money is."
....more than likely...Microsoft bought this company because it doesn't want FUTURE problems with loading it's OWN brand of spyware on 90% of the worlds computers.
LOL! Some folks, especially Mac and Linux aficionados consider Microsoft itself to be malicious spyware.
Most likely right. These folks who think that MS is doing something altruistic don't remember their history.
Microsoft wants to dominate the PC, the TV, and the Phone. Then they hope to control every appliance you'll ever own and then some. They've come a long way from the day they just wrote a few lines of DOS code for IBM.
The question is.......Microsoft provide.....or SELL us protection.
Resistance is futile.
THEY (Bill Gates) didn't. It was originally bought from another company that used it internally on their own computers.....
Only the Mafia SELLS protection. Right?.......
So much for innovation. Microsoft is being dragged along by market trends.
Everyone in the industry knows Microsoft has left giant loopholes in its browser for years which have helped to create this mess.
A large part of this situation, at least for the moment, can be resolved at the browser level which is why switching to Mozilla's Firefox is so effective.
I am irrated over how much time and energy I waste just to patch and fix up problems which were and continue to be preventable.
I am not claiming that fixing the browser is the magic bullet. Education of users on the dangers of downloading free stuff like screensavers and everything else under the sun is important as well.
Hopefully they will be updated as fast as the A-holes come out with new malicious garbage.
In New Jersey, corruption is everywhere. Beginning with the governor's office and the NJ Supreme Court.
Microsoft Virus ping
"....more than likely...Microsoft bought this company because it doesn't want FUTURE problems with loading it's OWN brand of spyware on 90% of the worlds computers."
amen...that's what I was gonna say
Why do the voter's put up with it? Do they have "Sunshine Laws" in NJ? Or is NJ just a Chicago-Style Gangland state?....
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