Microsoft is getting really serious with security for consumers. They released yesterday the beta for their Windows Live Safety Center service, an offering that will compete with with the big players in this space. Currently, most of the antivirus vendors (Symantec, McAfee, TrendMicro, etc.) have a similar service, with some differences.

What Microsoft offers here is:

• Antivirus scanning (with their RAV engine)
• Wasted disk space
• Maintenance issues
• Open ports

Overall the mix is very good, but a few things are missing. Firstly, an antispyware scan would have been appreciated especially that they have the goods. Secondly, go beyond open ports for security scanning, since Microsoft is always issuing patches on Tuesdays, they know what the holes are. Adding a vulerability scanner would make a lot of sense there.

Much appreciated is the wasted disk and maintenance bit, because a lot of home users out there don't know how to run these things. I hope home users will use these to speed up their PCs without any effort. Just keep in mind that it's in beta, so it's not yet "commercial-grade".

From an IT perspective, it's a good tool to keep handy for remote users (home computers, remote offices, laptops users, etc.) to help them when not in the office. If they think they have a virus/worm/trojan, IT can send them the link and they can scan themselves even when not on a VPN.

Let's hope that Microsoft in the near future will add a bit more as listed above, the tool shows promise.

Author: Jean Pascal Hebert, President, Socius Technologies. His new project, www.computer-secure.com, will assist beginners with their home PC security needs.