Microsoft to Ship Antigen E-Mail Security Software July 1

Published: June 7, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Microsoft this week announced the pending availability of its new Antigen line of antivirus and anti-spam security software for e-mail servers. The new products, including Antigen for Exchange, Antigen for SMTP Gateways, Antigen Spam Manager, and Antigen Enterprise Manager, will be available July 1.

It's been almost a year-and-a-half since Microsoft acquired Sybari Software, the Long Island, New York, e-mail security solutions developer that was planning to go public. That IPO never happened, and instead the company has been operating as a subsidiary to the Redmond, Washington, software giant.

It's been almost a year-and-a-half since Microsoft acquired Sybari Software, the Long Island, New York, e-mail security solutions developer that was planning to go public. That IPO never happened, and instead the company has been operating as a subsidiary to the Redmond, Washington, software giant.

What makes Antigen special is it utilizes more than one antivirus "engine" to spot malware, including engines from AhnLab, Authentium, CA, Kaspersky Lab, Mailfilters.com, Norman Data Defense Systems, Sophos, and VirusBuster.

Incorporating these antivirus engines, in addition to an engine from Microsoft, makes customers safer and keeps e-mail servers online longer, says Ted Kummert, corporate vice president of the Security, Access, and Solutions Division at Microsoft. "Antigen's unique multiengine solution integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange Server to provide customers with the benefits of layered protection, while minimizing cost, complexity, and impact on performance."

Microsoft is encouraging users to try the Antigen products free for three months. Users can download trial versions of the products at www.microsoft.com/antigen/downloads/trial-software.mspx.

Microsoft Antigen product licenses must be purchased as part of a Microsoft Volume Licensing agreement, and are done on a per-user basis. A five-user license for Antigen for Exchange, for example, would cost $.90 per user per month, or $54, while a five-user license for the entire Messaging Security Suite for $1.25 per user per month, or $75. Licenses for the Enterprise Manager console costs $8.20 per server per month.

Not all Antigen products have been incorporated under the Microsoft brand. Antigen for SharePoint and Antigen for Instant Messaging will remain Sybari-branded products until the next versions, which are targeted for release in the first half of 2007, Microsoft says.