Microsoft to Buy Antivirus Software Vendor Sybari

by Alex Woodie

Microsoft made its official move into the antivirus software business yesterday, when it announced plans to buy Sybari Software, a Long Island developer of tools for controlling the spread of viruses and spam over e-mail, the Web, and instant messaging. If approved by federal regulators, the acquisition should provide a boost to Microsoft's efforts to develop a deeply integrated and multi-layered approach to fighting today's fast-evolving and complex security threats.

Sybari's flagship product is its Antigen line of enterprise-level antivirus software for Microsoft Exchange, IBM's Notes/Domino, and SMTP gateway servers. In addition to eliminating viruses from e-mail, Sybari has developed versions of Antigen that work with Microsoft's SharePoint Services Web portal and Live Communications Server, its corporate instant messaging software. It also develops Spam Manager software for Exchange, Domino, and SMTP gateway servers, and a console called Sybari Enterprise Manager to let users manage multiple antivirus and antispam engines from a single place.

Yesterday's announcement is the latest example of Microsoft moving aggressively to make Windows installations more secure against malicious software. In December, Microsoft bought spyware vendor Giant Software Company and quickly rolled out a beta version of a spyware remover through Windows Update. With Sybari's products and expertise absorbed into the Windows family tree, Microsoft could begin to offer its customers subscriptions to antivirus and antispam services.

The acquisition of Sybari will be particularly important to Windows server users, Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Business and Technology Unit at Microsoft, stated in a press release. "Through this acquisition, we're excited to be able to provide customers with a server-level anti-virus solution that delivers advanced file and content-filtering capabilities and the use of multiple scan engines," he said. Robert Wallace, president and CEO of Sybari Software, says he's excited that, "through the addition of Microsoft's expertise and contribution, these solutions will be available to even more businesses."

Sybari, which based in the Long Island burg of East Northport, says its software is used by 9,000 customers around the world, including 100 on the Fortune 500 list, and that more than 9 million users are protected by its software. The company was planning to go public, and last May it filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of stock. The IPO never happened, as the company's owners apparently found a better way to sell shares. Terms of the pending acquisition were not announced.