News

Microsoft Updates System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection

System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection, Microsoft's next-generation enterprise-grade security solution for clients and servers, is getting a tune-up.

The changes, described last week in a blog post, seem somewhat minor. Microsoft is promising that less infrastructure will be required to use System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection, compared with the previous Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 product. In addition, the new product will leverage System Cent, er 2012 Configuration Manager's more "user centric" approach. For instance, the new security solution will show which users are more likely to bring malware into a computing environment so that IT pros can prioritize individual support.

There are a few permissions-delegation improvements as well. IT pros will be able to delegate control to end users to restart their devices after an update, for instance. Microsoft also made it easier to grant permissions to a new administrator.

The dashboard now shows collections of machines that may be affected by an exploit or malware. With the 2010 product, users had to switch to a "reports" view to see such problems. The new product also will let IT pros apply anti-malware policies across a collection of machines.

On the infrastructure side, Microsoft is dropping a requirement in Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 to use Windows Server Update Services to set up automatic approval rules for antimalware definition updates. Instead, for System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection, Microsoft has added an "automatic deployment rules" feature.

What Microsoft hasn't changed is the combination of Forefront Endpoint Protection solution with System Center Configuration Manager. Microsoft announced that combined approach when it released Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010, claiming that combining endpoint security with management through System Center Configuration Manager 2007 would address potential organizational fragmentation problems.

It has been possible to purchase Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 without Configuration Manager 2007, but IT shops would then lack centralized management control over the security solution. At least, that's how the Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 pricing and licensing guide (PDF) describes it.

In the near future, when System Center 2012 is released, Microsoft will license the whole suite of eight products as one solution, including System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection. Microsoft will not offer to sell Endpoint Protection 2012 as a separate product. However, older System Center individual product licenses likely will continue to be sold for one year out, according to Rob Helm, vice president at Directions on Microsoft, in a roadmap brief.

System Center 2012 solutions are currently available at the release candidate test stage. The rumored product release date is sometime in April, near the Microsoft Management Summit event.

See Also:

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

Featured

  • Salesforce To Acquire Informatica in $8 Billion Deal

    Salesforce announced on Tuesday it plans to acquire data management firm Informatica for $8 billion.

  • An image of planes flying around a globe

    2025 Microsoft Conference Calendar: For Partners, IT Pros and Developers

    Here's your guide to all the IT training sessions, partner meet-ups and annual Microsoft conferences you won't want to miss.

  • Microsoft Gives Orgs More Power to 'Tune' AI Agents

    At its Build 2025 conference this week, Microsoft unveiled significant advancements aimed at empowering enterprises to create more sophisticated AI agents.

  • Build 2025: Microsoft Charts Wider Path for AI Agents

    At Build 2025, Microsoft unveiled its strategic vision for the future of AI agents, emphasizing the development of autonomous systems capable of performing complex tasks across various applications.