Microsoft have unveiled a new tool in the fight against malware with the launch of their Malware Protection Center Portal. The site is basically a combination of warnings about the latest threats, encyclopedic information on malware plus downloads of Microsoft’s anti-virus and anti-spyware software.
In a further step, the software giant has also announced it will begin publishing a Security Intelligence Report about the latest PC threats. They’re even encouraging users to upload infected files to their Protection Center Portal to conduct further analysis and help other affected users.
First impressions are that the portal certainly looks useful. The homepage presents a list of the top 10 security threats relating to desktops, e-mails, MSRT detections and Adware/Spyware. At the time of writing, it lists the top three desktop threats as Exploit:HTML/IframeRef.gen, TrojanDownloader:JS/Agent.FA and Trojan:Win32/Fotomoto.A.
However, this should have been launched years ago by Microsoft who’s software and operating systems have been subject to constant security issues. Many will also surely ask, if they can’t secure their own operating system, why trust them with security software? In addition, there are so many third party security software developers on the scene now that Microsoft have missed the boat somewhat although the site will at least be a decent reference point to keep track of the latest global security threats if nothing else.
By the way, the team behind the project also have a blog with commentary on the latest developments on the portal.