Symantec Says Microsoft Should Level The Vista Security Playing Field

Although a rift has opened of late between Symantec and Microsoft, Symantec says it's very much in favor of security integration--as long as Microsoft isn't the only one that gets to do the integrating.

"We want a level playing field," says Jeremy Burton, group president of Symantec's security and data management group. "We want the same access to the operating system as their engineers and developers. Let us integrate; we can do a better job of integrating security than Microsoft can."

Even though Symantec's new Security 2.0 strategy stresses services that go beyond its more traditional antivirus business model, Burton acknowledges, "There's still a pretty good business today to be had in stopping viruses."

In integrating several security features in its upcoming Windows Vista operating system, many fear Microsoft will assume the familiar position of taking business away from market incumbents, much the way it ate Netscape's lunch when Microsoft introduced Internet Explorer.

Microsoft has built antivirus and anti-spyware software into Vista, and the company has taken away access to the Windows kernel, which controls the operating system's most basic functions. Security vendors use that access to detect and block certain malware, including worms. Microsoft says that benefit isn't worth the downside, which is that malware writers exploit the same kernel access.

Symantec has no intention of being left with table scraps, however. While Burton acknowledges that consumers will appreciate the security features built into Vista, "Enterprises don't trust that Microsoft will provide the level of security they require."

Although Symantec chairman and CEO John Thompson at the company's Security 2.0 launch event Tuesday made no reference to Microsoft, his company has been busy making noise about Microsoft's plans to integrate a number of security features into its upcoming Vista operating system. Meanwhile, Symantec is looking to become a security supermarket of products and services.

Symantec Tuesday formally introduced its Security 2.0 initiative, which includes Norton Confidential Online Edition, an identity-protection partnership with VeriSign, a security services partnership with Accenture, and new Symantec products focused on improving database and e-mail security.

The company's move to provide a wider variety of business-level security offerings comes at the right time, regardless of its thoughts on Microsoft's security capabilities. With Microsoft shipping a baseline of security as part of Vista, security vendors such as Symantec need to raise the stakes by offering security options that Microsoft isn't, and may never be, ready to offer.