News
Microsoft To Ship First Branded Antigen Products
Microsoft will ship the first branded versions of its Antigen products beginning
July 1, the company announced on Tuesday.
The newly Microsoft-branded products are Antigen for Exchange, Antigen for
SMTP Gateways, Antigen Spam Manager and Antigen Enterprise Manager. Microsoft
acquired the products last July when it bought
out Sybari Software, which was best known for its multiple scanning engine
approach to malware, spam and virus control.
Beyond rebranding, the products also feature significant upgrades.
For one thing, the company announced last fall that the Antigen products will
now sport Microsoft's anti-virus engine, which they hadn't previously.
Interestingly, Microsoft acquired
its anti-virus engine in 2003 when it bought out GeCAD Software. Antigen
provides scan engines from AhnLab, Authentium, CA., Kaspersky Lab, MailFilters.com,
Norman Data Defense Systems, Sophos Plc and VirusBuster Ltd.
Other additions include improved cluster support and enhanced management capabilities,
including centralized management of digital signature files and the addition
of a Microsoft digital signature to virus updates to ensure their validity.
"When Antigen downloads [the file], it makes sure the [Microsoft] signature
is intact," said Joe Licari, director of marketing for Antigen products,
in an interview.
Antigen costs $98 per server. Client licenses costs $10.50 per user per year
for Exchange, and $7.50 for SMTP or Spam Manager, or $14.50 per user per year
for Enterprise Manager.
About the Author
Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.