Microsoft tinkers with anti-spyware tools

Published: July 20, 2005, 7:03 AM PDT
By Colin Barker
Special to CNET News.com

Microsoft has released an enhanced version of its anti-spyware product as it continues to work on a new version of the application, which is due out in beta later this year.

The company is continuing to work with numerous groups to find ways to improve Microsoft AntiSpyware, which was released in beta in January, and now has ways of "guarding over 50 ways that spyware can enter" a PC. According to reports in the security community, the latest updates focus on ways to combat so-called rootkits.

Rootkits have been around for years and are tools that let a hacker capture passwords and the message traffic to and from a computer. Rootkits can be used in combination with other malicious software to disrupt systems. Microsoft is concerned about this threat being used in conjunction with annoying--but often more benign--problems like spyware.

The issue is a difficult one for Microsoft, which has to balance informing people of potential threats while being careful not to scare them with too much information.

"Our philosophy around both security and privacy is to put users in control of their information," Peter Cullen, Microsoft’s chief privacy strategist, told ZDNet UK in an interview earlier this month.

"A common way in which spyware is put onto people's PCs is through something called 'drive-by downloads.' It comes bundled in with something that the user may have decided to download. What the download blocker (in XP Service Pack 2) does is alert the user that there is something that someone is attempting to download, gives them very clear information about who it is that is attempting to do this, and allows the user to make the choice," Cullen said.

Spyware causes more than a few problems for Microsoft. While the company is keen to advise people to remove products it considers dangerous, it has to be careful about directing people to remove products from potential competitors.

Colin Barker of ZDNet UK reported from London

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