Microsoft Not First with Free Anti-virus Protection

Those who missed out on downloading Microsoft’s free anti-virus beta package
June 23 don’t have to wait for the general release later in 2009. Several
security software vendors offer—and have for years—free anti-virus
applications, using them as a gateway for users and partners.

Microsoft is receiving mixed reviews of its Microsoft Security
Essentials, billed as free basic protection against malware for
consumers. Microsoft closed the beta version after more than 700,000 downloaded
the software within 24 hours of it becoming available.

While tech reviews say the package appears to perform well enough compared
with some fee-based products, many have questioned the wisdom of trusting
Microsoft to secure the very platform that is vulnerable to uncountable threats
and exploits.

>>
Check our list of the best free anti-virus products.

Several analysts and bloggers have added their voices to the chorus, musing
about whether "adequate" and "basic" protection is good
enough. Among those voices are security software vendors that have offered free
version of their products for years. To them, free anti-virus software is a
means to an end—getting users acquainted with their products and opening
opportunities for partners.

"We want to lower the barrier to entry to enable end users and small
and midsized businesses to get to know the products and how to use them,"
says Juan Santana, CEO of Panda Security, a
Spain-based security company.

Panda is among the many tertiary anti-virus vendors that offer free anti-virus
products. Among them are AVG, BitDefender, ALWIL Software and Avira. These
vendors offer products that are not just free trials, but full implementations
of an anti-virus solution. Vendors such as ESET and Kaspersky Lab offer
low-cost solutions that provide better functionality but still lack the power
of a Symantec Endpoint Protection or McAfee Total Protection suite. The idea is
still the same, though: Get users familiarized and offer better performance and
functionality with for-fee plans.

For Panda, Santana says a free offering—including an online, cloud-based
anti-virus service—is the best way to go for a company that has virtually no
share in the U.S.
market. Panda is one of the best-known security brands in its home market of Spain,
where it holds a 30 percent share. Globally, Panda’s market share is less than
3 percent, and in the United States
it’s less than 1 percent. By offering free software and services, Santana says
Panda aims to increase its U.S.
market share and create more opportunities for its resellers.

"The free offering is a good way to get the company known, and then
offer the premium product," Santana says. "We go to them later with
the full array of offerings on the corporate side, including managed
services."

Free anti-virus protection is a trend among European security vendors. Panda
is from Spain.
BitDefender is from Romania.
Avira is German-based. AVG is headquartered in the Netherlands,
and ALWIL is from the Czech Republic.

Generally speaking, these purveyors of free anti-virus software are in
agreement that free applications are only an entry point and do not provide the
security protection or the manageability of business-class or enterprise-class
solutions.

When About.com’s
Mary Landesman tested three free anti-virus products—AVG, Avira and
ALWIL’s Avast—she found the performance and responsiveness adequate for casual
users. As she wrote, these products are designed to find known viruses and worms
"in the wild," but suffer from poor user interfaces, automated and
static online support resources, and a lack of spyware and adware protection.

Like Panda, BitDefender is looking to expand upon the success it has enjoyed
in its home market by building out a U.S.
channel. While it offers a variety of software and hardware products, its free
anti-virus offering is designed purely as an entry-level offering.

"Our products are designed to be easy to use and easy to install for
the midsized company, and that translates into saved time and money," says
Keith Alston, BitDefender’s director of channels in North America.

Microsoft’s launch of a free anti-virus product may help these smaller
vendors by validating the free-to-paid model. However, many of these vendors
say Microsoft Security Essentials may confuse consumers and lower security
awareness and practices among the most vulnerable users connected to the
Internet.

"It’s important to recognize that Microsoft’s role in the Internet
security realm is much like your relationship with your trusted family doctor.
They can help diagnose the problems. In addition, they treat many general
ailments. In the end, though, they are not a replacement for a specialist when
you need one," AVG CEO J.R. Smith said in
a statement.