As more and more users enter the always-connected world of the internet, it becomes even more important  to make sure you are protected from the different viruses and websites that mean to do your computer harm. With so many different anti-virus options to choose from, which one is best?

I can’t answer that question and no one really can, but you can use things like the recent AV-Test to see where your anti-virus programs ranks among some of the best free and paid options out there.

The AV-Test consists of 22 anti-virus programs on Windows 7. The test is said to determine just how good your program is and each program requires a minimum score of 11 out of 18 possible to pass. So, where did Microsoft’s Security Essentials v2.0 rank? Unfortunately, for Microsoft, MSE came out of the test with only a score of 11.5.

The three areas of testing were: Protection, Repair and Usability. According to AV-Test the definitions for such are:

The “Protection” covers static and dynamic malware detection, including real-world 0-Day attack testing. In case of “Repair”, we check the system disinfection and rootkit removal in detail. The “Usability” testing includes the system slow-down caused by the tools and the number of false positives.

Microsoft’s Security Essentials did pretty well except in the area of zero-day attacking, where it scored a 2.5. Repair was 3.5 and Usability was 5.5. I have personally been using Security Essentials for a while and have never had a problem, but it never hurts to be constantly evaluating your PC’s protection to make sure that you don’t have any issue’s where it can be easily avoided.

Let me know what you guys use for PC protection in the comments and where your anit-virus program ranks on the chart.

You can check out the rest of the programs and their rankings on the score chart here.

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Yesterday Microsoft quietly announced Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0, it’s anti-malware software. As usual it’s available as a free download and while it’s predecessor was widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best anti-virus solutions out there, MSE 2.0 only improves on it.

Ever since Microsoft released Microsoft Security Essentials, I’ve learnt to stop worrying about my antivirus.. I no longer pay for software to protect my computer and no longer have to worry about whether or not I have a virus all the time. I’ve been using Microsoft Security Essentials right from its first public beta and haven’t looked back since. It’s unprecedented protection has kept every computer in my household free from viruses since it’s been released, all the while remaining anonymous to the users.

So what’s new in MSE 2.0? Well the most noticeable difference to users is the color scheme, but that’s about it. It’s underneath the skin where all the work has taken place.

The old MSE operated on mainly just detected viruses using the virus database and definitions. But this latest versions ads a heuristic engine which takes things up another notch. This means you’re more likely to be protected by viruses and malware that hasn’t been positively identified yet, and you’re less likely to get false positives.

And as we’d expect, Microsoft have made this version faster and cleaner than before. It seamlessly integrates with Windows 7 and the security center as well as the firewall. The new version also integrates with Internet Explorer to detect Web-based threats and will keep an eye out for malware coming in through a network .

All in all, Microsoft Security Essentials still remains one of the best security suites out there and I recommend it to you all,

You can grab the new version for free from here

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To be honest it doesn’t seem like a year ago to me when Windows Security Essentials was introduced to the world. I was even one of those people who were running the beta version of it before it was even released to the general public. Ever since it’s been released i’ve used it as my only antivirus on my laptop and any other computers I look after. It’s just simple, set it and forget, and it’s kept everything clean and running smoothly for me up to this date, so fingers crossed all goes well in the future.

So it is in fact the 1st Birthday for Security Essentials so Microsoft have gone and celebrated it by focusing on some numbers that they’ve posted over at the Windows Team Blog.

• To date, Microsoft Security Essentials is available in 74 different countries around the world and is on 30 million machines around the globe.
• It’s removed over 366 million threats from peoples machines, and detected nearly 400 million threats in the last year alone.
• MSE has been certified by two of the industry’s leading independent certification authorities;International Computer Security Association Labs (ICSA) and West Coast Labs.  It also received the most recent VB100 Award and as well as certification from AV-Test.
• It also received the PC Advisor Awards 2010 – Best Free Software award and is rated by Consumer Reports as “Best Buy”

It seems to have done pretty well for itself, especially when you consider it’s only been available to the general public for the last 12 months. Futhermore, HP have now announced that they will be shipping MSE pre-installed on it’s HP Envy machines and Microsoft have just announced that MSE will be available for free to small businesses on up to 10 PC’s for free as of October.

I would certainly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials to everyone, especially if you’re using paid software up to this point, MSE does just as good a job, if not better and it’s free!

Check it out here if you haven’t already.

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Microsoft have released the beta of a new version of Microsoft Security Essentials, their free anti-virus package for Windows.

Microsoft Security essentials, also known as MSE, was first released in September last year and uses the same award-winning anti-virus scanning engine found in the company;s ForeFront corporate security package.

New features in the MSE beta include…

Windows Firewall integration – During setup, Microsoft Security Essentials will now ask if you would like to turn the Windows Firewall on or off.

Enhanced protection for web-based threats – Microsoft Security Essentials now integrates with Internet Explorer to provide protection against web-based threats.

New protection engine – The updated anti-malware engine offers enhanced detection and cleanup capabilities with better performance.

Network inspection system – Protection against network-based exploits is now built in to Microsoft Security Essentials.

Microsoft say if you want to try the new software…

To download the beta of Microsoft Security Essentials, click here to visit the Microsoft Connect page to register for the beta. Once completed – you will find the instructions for downloading and installing the beta. We value your feedback – beta participants are encouraged to provide feedback about their experiences with Microsoft Security Essentials through Microsoft Connect. Please note that this is a limited beta available in English (U.S.), Israel, and Brazilian Portuguese (the beta will also be available in China in Simplified Chinese later this year) and is available to genuine Windows users on a first come, first serve basis until the allotted spots for the beta have been reached.

You should only test beta anti-virus software on a protected machine however, preferably one in a virtual machine, as you can never guarantee that bugs will not cause problems that could open your computer to viruses and other malware attacks.  Always remember this is still beta software after-all.

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At Everything-Microsoft.com our editorial team is frequently scrutinised for the software we run and why we choose to run it.  We’re an eclectic bunch here that includes people who run all types of software on our PCs.  I thought I’d kick off a series on what software we choose to run, and why we have chosen it.

Browser – Internet Explorer 8

The browser is the most important piece of software on our PCs today and it’s the one place in which we tend to live our online lives the most, thus, for many it’s the most important software choice to make, and the one we put the most thought into.

Every browser for me offers something useful, I love Firefox and Chrome’s speed, Safari and Opera’s interfaces and sometimes it can be very difficult to select which browser to run.

In the end I stick with Internet Explorer 8 for two very good reasons.  First is the special sandbox mode that it runs in under my 64 bit version of Windows 7.  No other browser has access to this useful Windows feature, and it’s certainly a major security help.  It can be argued I know that there are plenty of other things that make IE8 a security risk and for an inexperienced user I may recommend Firefox, but as someone who writes about Internet security threats I’m happy with IE 8 as it provides all the power features I need without requiring plug-ins.

This is another important aspect of the browser, and it’s one that has a great bearing on my own software choices.  I don’t like plug-ins, and I avoid them at every opportunity unless they’re completely necessary.  The difference a plug-in, theme or toolbar can make to the speed of a browser is huge.  So I keep things as lean as possible.

The other reason for choosing IE8 is software bloat.  In the same way that plug-ins and toolbars can slow your browser, having too much software bloat can slow Windows itself.  This is my other reason for sticking with IE.  As it’s already a part of Windows, using it helps keep my copy of Windows 7 lean and fast.

Email – Windows Live Mail

Now regards the software bloat I’ve just mentioned, it could be argued that I really ought to be accessing my email in a browser.  But email is such a big part of my life that I have just never been able to bring myself to use web-based mail for very long.

Windows Live Mail suits me brilliantly because I have a Windows Mobile 6.5 phone from HTC that also has Windows Live installed, and a Live email account.  The synching between these two software platforms and the cloud is second to none, frankly I love it.

The Outlook Connector software just doesn’t have the flair and ease of use that Windows Live Mail does.  If you can’t do your email in the cloud and want a lightweight package, I think this is it.

The other reason for choosing this is that, being Microsoft software, you can guarantee that it will work merrily with Windows 7 without a single problem, and without causing too much bloat.  The latter is because Microsoft have an advantage (whatever your personal views on this might be) that they have unfettered access to APIs and other code in Windows they can use in packages like this, and the former is because I’ve seen too many instances in the past of even big software companies, such as Adobe, producing sloppy code.  With packages like Windows Live, Microsoft simply don’t do this.

Anti-Virus – Microsoft Security Essentials / Norton Anti-Virus 2010

As a security writer I occasionally get sent anti-virus packages to try.  Kaspersky I hated, I found it intrusive and it completely blocked access to my network drives, cunningly following this up by hiding the controls to unblock access somewhere where I couldn’t find them.  Ordinarily my choice would be the lovely little lightweight Microsoft Security Essentials, this is firstly because I’m comfortable that I know what I’m doing online so don’t need an extra firewall, but also because of a lovely little feature that means it only performs intensive scans when you’re not busy doing something else.

At the moment though I’m using Norton Anti-Virus 2010, it was free to me and on that score I’d recommend it, but it wouldn’t be my first choice otherwise to power users.  Why for instance do I need to be told that it’s performing a task “in the background”?  For more inexperienced users however the Norton 360 product could be exactly what you’re looking for, and it’s scanning engine is one of the best on the market.  Long gone now are the days when Norton was the joke of the PC security industry.  I would also recommend AVG.

Media Player – Zune

Okay so I’m breaking my rule here.  Why would I install any software that replicates a feature that already exists within Windows?  Simply put, I think Windows Media Player is horrible and hasn’t really moved on much since it first appeared in the mid 1990’s.  The Zune software on the other hand with it’s unique metro interface is a breath of fresh air.  Okay, so it may not be as flexible or as easy to use in some respects as WMP or iTunes, but it’s WAY prettier than both.

CD/DVD Burning – Nero / Windows 7 / Zune

Until recently I’ve been using Nero for all my disc burning needs, I even still have it installed now.  I can assure you though that’s it’s going, and going soon.

Why do I need it when 99% of the discs I burn I can either burn through the Zune software or through Windows 7 itself?  Indeed when Windows 7 introduced native ISO disc-image burning I should have switched away there and then.

With the exception of mixed-mode CDs that I might burn now and again, I simply have no need for Nero with all it’s hugely excessive bloat.

Image Viewing – Windows Live Photo Gallery

The Windows Image Viewer is another example of a piece of software that, like Windows Media Player, should be stripped out of the OS completely.  I use the Windows Live Photo Gallery software instead.  It’s essentially the same software, and no doubt shares a huge amount of code with the Windows 7 native app, but it’s miles ahead in terms of both usability and features.

But, as with the Zune software and Windows Live Mail, I’m sticking with Microsoft software to avoid software bloat.

Office Suite – Microsoft Office 2010 beta

There is in my view one reason and one reason alone to shell out the cost of a copy of Microsoft Office, it’s simply the best office suite on the planet!  It may be expensive, especially if you require the Professional version as I do and extra software such as Visio, but boy is it worth it!

I was not someone who was resistant to the ribbon either.  Okay so I still find it frustrating at times, but no more than I was frustrated at accidentally disabling toolbars in Office 2003 and not knowing how to get them back again.

I don’t install everything, I’ll leave out Outlook, Access and OneNote can be terribly annoying for start-up items and background running processes, but this is the only office suite for me.

Other Software

Shark007 Codec Pack – I’ve used this ever since I first heard about it.  It’s boast that it provides the “only codecs you will ever need” is almost completely accurate.  I can think of only one other occasion that I needed a third-party codec, but that was to view some specialist HD video.

CCleaner – This is an excellent utility for keeping Windows clean and spangly.  Okay so it’s got a habit of deleting my cookies when I’ve told it not to, but otherwise it’s a fantastic little lightweight package that does exactly what it says on the tin.  What’s more it’s free!

Glary Utilities – Another great little free PC optimisation pack that does an excellent job while maintaining a tiny footprint.

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Virus Bulletin conducted it’s most recent tests in November and the results were made available this month. The security research company evaluated 43 antimalware products (product submission deadline was October 28) for the 32-bit version of Windows 7 Professional.

Out of the 43 antimalware products, 36 products passed and 7 ( what a coincidence ) failed. The basic requirements for a product passing the test is detecting, both on demand and on access using its default settings, all malware known to be “In the Wild” at the time of the review, and not detecting any false positives when scanning a set of clean files. The products were pitted against thousands of unique samples of malware that fall into four categories: WildList viruses, worms and bots, polymorphic viruses, and Trojans.

Just under a fifth of the products unfortunately did not manage to meet these requirements: 36 products passed the test, leaving seven products to fail. Here are the ones that passed and failed, as well as the reason for not passing.

• Pass: Alwil avast! 4.8, Arcabit ArcaVir 2010, Authentium Command Anti-Malware, AVG Internet Security, Avira AntiVir Personal, Avira AntiVir Professional, BitDefender Antivirus 2010, Bullguard 8.7, eScan Internet Security Suite, ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5, Fortinet FortiClient, Frisk F-PROT, F-Secure Internet Security 2010, F-Secure Protection Services, GDATA AntiVirus 2010, K7 Total Security, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6, Kingsoft Anti-Virus 2010 Advanced, Kingsoft Anti-Virus 2010 Standard, McAfee Total Protection, McAfee VirusScan Enterprise, Microsoft Forefront Client Security, Microsoft Security Essentials, Nifty Corporation Security 24, PC Tools Internet Security, PC Tools Spyware Doctor with AV, Preventon Antivirus, Qihoo 360 Security, Quick Heal AntiVirus Lite, Sophos Endpoint Security and Control, Sunbelt Vipre, Symantec Endpoint Security 11, Trustport Antivirus 2009, VirusBuster Professional, and Webroot AntiVirus with SpySweeper.
• Fail: AhnLab V3Net I.S. 8.0 (one wildlist miss), CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2010 (three wildlist misses), CA Threat Manager (two wildlist misses), eEye Blink Professional (13 wildlist misses, 1 false positive), Filseclab Twister Anti-TrojanVirus (1920 wildlist misses, 2 false positives), Kingsoft Anti-Virus 2010 Swinstar (one wildlist miss), and Norman Security Suite (13 wildlist misses).

The majority of the security companies passed without any problem. Out of the ones that failed, i cant say any of those names are very familiar to me, but if you happen to be using any of them, perhaps you may look at changing your anti-virus. Microsoft’s new antivirus, Microsoft Security Essentials passed with flying colors, but this was to be expected as it would be quite an embarrassment for Microsoft if it hadn’t.

Source:

Virus Bulletin via Arstechnica

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Microsoft have this afternoon released their new free anti-virus software, Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) on the internet.

This software is based on their award-winning ForeFront corporate anti-virus engine and includes additional features not seen in other anti-virus packages such as only performing scheduled scans when you’re not using your PC.

On the website Microsoft describe their new product thus…

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

Their previous foray into anti-virus software, OneCare, was both a public-relations and a protection disaster.  It will come as no surprise to anyone then that they’ve got a mountain to climb to win hearts and minds this time.

We can certainly expect MSE to feature first in the anti-virus ballot screen when you install Windows 7, and in my mind this will be no bad thing.  I can thoroughly recommend MSE, I’ve been using it for a while now, and you can download it here.

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Just ahead of the launch of Windows 7 comes Microsoft Security Essentials, their new free anti-virus package based on their award-winning ForeFront corporate security scanning engine.

I wrote last night that this software is being released today and there was an interesting comment from Yatti420 who wrote…

MS should just push MSE to all users.. I notice lots of clients comps coming in now with stuff AVG misses.. MSE is a Microsoft Product that just works well..

This is an interesting point.  Many of you will have noticed that Microsoft is already pushing their Live suite and their Office Live plug-in as optional updates in Windows Update.  It could easily be argued that with MSE being much more important to an end user, they should push this too.

First of all we should look at the differences between XP and Vista on the one side and Windows 7 on the other.  All of these operating systems will alert you if you don’t have any anti-virus software installed but only Windows 7, and it’s such a simple idea I can’t help but wonder why it’s taken so long to implement, will actively help you choose and download an anti-virus package.

This is important, not so much in the corporate space but in the home, where novice users may have no idea where to get it and might be running expired trial software they got with their PC, unaware that they’re not protected.

There’s also the quality of the scanning engine itself to consider.  Yatti420 points out that AVG has, sadly, let itself go a bit in the last few years.  It’s still one of the best scanning engines out there but MSE is better, and Microsoft can prove it.

So what about pushing MSE via Windows update.  With Windows 7 there’s still cause to do this but not, probably without Windows update integrating with the security centre first to see if you already have up-to-date anti-virus software installed, as having two anti-virus packages on your PC can do more harm than good.

To be honest, much as I’d love to see this happen, I don’t believe that it will.  There’s also the fact that, while Windows 7 is much better at alerting users to ‘optional updates’ through the action centre.  I’d hardly call anti-virus software ‘optional’.  Especially for all those people with no protection at all.

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Microsoft’s long-awaited free replacement for their awful OneCare anti-virus (sic!) software will apparently ship sometime on September 29th.  This time however the flaky anti-virus protection will have gone to be replaced by the same award-winning scanning engine contained in their corporate ForeFront security package.  As you can see from this, I think rather amusing, publicity shot in which I can only assume the man is introducing his girlfriend to internet porn, relieved he’s now dumped OneCare and has some decent protection instead.  

This news doesn’t come as any major surprise to me.  Microsoft will no doubt have already spoken to PC vendors about bundling MSE with their new Windows 7 PCs.  This would be an excellent move.  Okay so the PC vendors get a cut every time someone activates and pays for the full version of whatever (usually rubbish) anti-virus software they’ve bundled, but MSE offers a couple of features that raise it above the competition.

The first is the aforementioned scanning and detection engine.  The second is a simple feature that only runs scheduled scans when you’re not using the machine.  It’s a simple idea and one that I think more anti-virus vendors should adopt. 

I’ve been using MSE for some time now and I’ve been impressed enough to finally dump AVG, and that took a lot believe me!  It’s simple to set up and use and needs no tweaking ‘out of the box’.  In short, it’s perfect for people like most of my friends and family, who only know about updating anti-virus software after they’ve been hit by a trojan.

Microsoft have got a huge mountain to climb convincing the masses that they can provide high levels of security.  Both Windows XP and OneCare were PR disasters security-wise.  If they can convince system builders to ship it as standard though, then they’re in with a good shot at success.

There’s no final download URL yet but this is a good bet.  I can thoroughly recommend MSE, go download it today… erm… no, tomorrow…  yeah!     Credit to Mary Jo Foley for breaking this.

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Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is an anti-malware product that works via the cloud, a successor to OneCare, and contains quite a bit of promise. The beta versions had a strong ability to detect and remove malware, and as the product grows, its strength will only increase as more and more users automatically submit telemetry to the cloud. Even so, MSE already has a strong base, with 400,000 testers during the beta release.

MSE will also be completely free (assuming that your operating system passing the WGA test), matching the company’s belief in anti-virus software. The program is mainly being marketed as a lightweight, effective solution especially meant for those who do not currently have existing protection (estimated at 50-60% of users) or consumers whose anti-virus suite has expired, leaving them open to attacks by malware.

As for the release date, according to a message sent to participants of the beta, Microsoft plans to release the final version of MSE soon: “the final version of Microsoft Security Essentials will be released to the public in the coming weeks.” In the meantime, feel free to give the beta a try, and potentially helping to improve the product:

Just make sure that you meet the system requirements, as outlined by the Redmond giant on the official page for Security Essentials:

• Operating System: Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3); Windows Vista; Windows 7 (Beta or Release Candidate)
• For Windows XP, a Personal Computer with a:
  • CPU with clock speed of 500 MHz or higher
  • Memory: 256 MB RAM or higher
• For Windows Vista and Windows 7, a Personal Computer with a:
  • CPU with clock speed of 1.0 GHz or higher
  • Memory: 1 GB RAM or higher
• VGA (Display): 800 x 600 or higher
• Storage: 140 MB of available hard-disk space
• An Internet connection.
• Internet Browser:
  • Windows Internet Explorer 6.0 or later
  • Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or later

Feel free to leave a comment below describing your experiences with the software.

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Earlier, I made a post in which I described the upcoming Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) and explained what all of the hype was about. Now, the Redmond company has released the 1.0 Beta, and anyone can download MSE directly from Microsoft. On Microsoft’s page for MSE, a link to Microsoft Connect is provided from which users can fill out a quick survey (seven questions) about security, and upon completion, users can download the Beta for Windows 7 (x86 and x64), Windows Vista (x86 and x64), or Windows XP (x86 only).

Microsoft provides a quick explanation on their official page:

You’re too busy to spend a lot of time worrying about protecting your PC. With Microsoft Security Essentials Beta, you get high-quality protection against viruses and spyware, including Trojans, worms and other malicious software. And best of all, there are no costs or annoying subscriptions to keep track of.

Security Essentials is easy to install and easy to use. Updates and upgrades are automatic, so there’s no need to worry about having the latest protection. It’s easy to tell if you’re protected – when the Security Essentials icon is green, your status is good. It’s as simple as that.

When you’re busy using your PC, you don’t want to be bothered by needless alerts. Security Essentials runs quietly in the background, only alerting you if there’s something you need to do. And it doesn’t use a lot of system resources, so it won’t get in the way of your work or fun.

Remember that you will need to meet the minimum requirements:

• For Windows XP, a PC with a CPU with clock speed of at least 500MHz and at least 256MB of RAM
• For Windows Vista and Windows 7, a PC with a CPU with clock speed of at least 1.0GHz and at least 1GB of RAM
• VGA (display): 800×600 or higher
• Storage: 140MB of available hard-disk space
• An Internet connection is required for installation and to download the latest virus and spyware definitions.
• Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, or Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or higher.

A second build will be released to the public later this summer, which will be either a Beta Refresh or a Release Candidate, and then the final build in the fall (either before or around the release of Windows 7). However, interestingly enough, the Beta build (1.0.1407.00) is lower than that of the leaked build (1.0.2140.0), so users of the leak could be advised to keep their current version and those who do not have MSE already may wish to obtain the leaked copy.

Download

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Recently there has been quite a bit of turmoil about project “Morro,” as Microsoft announced last November that they would halt development of Live OneCare and replace it with Morro, a new security solution. And now, right before the retirement date of OneCare, Microsoft has announced that it will release a public beta of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) on June 23rd (the beta will be updated over the summer), OneCare’s replacement. According to Microsoft, MSE will be a basic, light-weight security solution that has no performance impact on Windows, and to top it off, free. According to a Microsoft representative, MSE will be what we have all waited for:

To address consumer demand for quality anti-malware protection that’s easy to get and doesn’t slow down system performance, Microsoft Security Essentials has been designed as a no-cost anti-malware solution that provides consumers with quality protection from threats including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans. It will be offered directly from Microsoft and has been designed to be hassle-free and is focused on delivering quality protection that’s easy to use.

MSE also has very low system requirements:

• For Windows XP, a PC with a CPU with clock speed of at least 500MHz and at least 256MB of RAM
• For Windows Vista and Windows 7, a PC with a CPU with clock speed of at least 1.0GHz and at least 1GB of RAM
• VGA (display): 800×600 or higher
• Storage: 140MB of available hard-disk space
• An Internet connection is required for installation and to download the latest virus and spyware definitions.
• Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, or Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or higher.

MSE will coincide with the release of Windows 7 later this year (final release date could be as early as September), and will be completely free and available to all users (regardless of architecture) of Windows XP (XP only gets an x86 version), Vista, and Windows 7, assuming that the user passes a Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) check. Unfortunately, MSE will not have a managed firewall, no photo backup capability, and cannot manage a home network; however, it is built on the same trusted framework of other Microsoft products such as OneCare (of course) and Windows Defender, so it appears to be quite promising.

Microsoft decided to create MSE because too many PCs are unprotected. Most OEM PCs only come with a trial version of a protection suite, and the rare full versions usually expire within a year or two. Even worse, most users disable the free solutions provided with Windows, such as Windows Defender and Windows Firewall. MSE has emerged to protect those who are vulnerable, by integrating itself with the other free solutions by Microsoft while adding a degree of real-time protection due to its new feature called Dynamic Signature Service (DSS), which submits unknown viruses to Microsoft’s servers and checks to see if a solution has been provided. Best of all, MSE is quite silent, running entirely in the background, almost never annoying the user with pop-ups, and only scanning during idle times. The only catch is persuading the OEMs to include MSE instead of a third party suite. Considering that these PC manufacturers make money by preloading paid security solutions, it will be interesting to see how Microsoft tries to entice the larger makers to include MSE in their line-ups, or whether Microsoft succeeds whatsoever.

Nonetheless, MSE could prove to be one of the best solutions on the market considering that over 450 million users regularly use Windows Update. Add to that figure the amount of users on the SpyNet service, the new DSS, Windows Defender, and the doomed OneCare, Microsoft has a tremendous amount of telemetry to use in protecting its userbase. In fact, Microsoft plans to publish new signature updates three times a day, along with the core engine every month.

Of course, the real test will be whether or not these massive amounts of virus signatures will provide a highly effective degree of detection; although, so far, MSE looks as though it may take over the security market.

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