Microsoft Buys Anti-Virus Vendor As Well

from the sense-a-pattern? dept

Get a sense that Microsoft is taking the whole security space a bit more seriously? Just a few months after buying an anti-spyware company, Microsoft has bought an anti-virus company. Of course, just as in the case with spyware, it's sort of odd once you think about it. Viruses and spyware tend to exploit holes in Microsoft's operating system and software -- and these acquisitions aren't so much about fixing the core problems, but figuring out ways to patch over the holes once they occur. There's some value in that, of course, but it makes you wonder if this means Microsoft will pay less attention concerning getting to the real root of the security holes in their software. Also, just as in the case of the Giant acquisition, many people are going to ask whether or not Microsoft can get away with charging people for software to protect them from Microsoft's own security lapses. This isn't the first time Microsoft has bought an anti-virus vendor, of course, but it still shows the ongoing process by which Microsoft seems to be plastering over cracks, rather than fixing the real issues.

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