Insights

For more than a decade, anti-virus software has been easy to sell and easy to bundle and has helped VARs generate profits and build incremental income. But that's all about to change, and quickly.

This year, Microsoft is jumping into the ring with anti-virus and management capabilities for businesses with its Forefront Client Security. This move already is causing an uproar among traditional anti-virus software manufacturers and forcing many solution providers to re-evaluate their current security solutions.

However you look at it, the reality boils down to this: Antivirus software is becoming a commodity product. This legacy technology, which was made to fight off known viruses, is no match for the complex and seemingly undetectable security threats such as phishing, Trojan horses and keyloggers that riddle today's Web-based world. Many customers have taken notice of the inefficiencies of anti-virus software and are beginning to question why they are spending top dollar on software that doesn't work and makes their networks vulnerable.

Yet with this looming shift comes great opportunity for those of us servicing small and midsize businesses. We can save our customers headaches by shifting them away from antiquated traditional security and deploying Microsoft's Forefront Client Security. This technology provides customers with the same level of anti-virus protection but without the high price tag.

However, before you jump in, let me be the first to say it: You may initially lose a few dollars here and there during the transition. But you can ultimately retain and even grow your IT budget with your customers by augmenting Microsoft's core solution with Web protection solutions that have additional necessary layers of security that prevent data leakage and lock down the endpoint. (This translates to more value-add and more protection for your customers.)

Accelerating the need for these changes is the threat landscape, which looks completely different from previous years. According to Web security company Websense, in the first half of 2006, the volume of Web-based attacks targeted at stealing data and motivated by financial gain grew by 100 percent.

As solution providers, we must recognize this shift in attack methods aimed at stealing money, data and intellectual property. We must help our clients effectively combat these threats by building alayered security approach with Forefront Client Security and bundling it with Web security solutions that actually protect networks.

With that in mind, here are some tips for migrating your clients from anti-virus software to a layered security approach:

1. Perform an audit of your customers' systems; chances are they are vulnerable and have been hit by a virus despite enterprisewide deployment of anti-virus software.
   
   Today, there are still a large number of organizations, particularly SMBs, that believe they are protected by traditional anti-virus and firewall software. It's a false sense of security. Most of these SMBs don't realize that it takes only one visit to a bad Web site for their networks to get infected with several different types of malware.
2. Further, knowing that financial gain is the core motivator of today's attacks, it is our responsibility to run an audit of our customers' systems and alert them to the areas of vulnerability. From there, we must recommend and deploy a Web security solution that protects against financially motivated attacks such as keyloggers, Trojans and various kinds of spyware.
3. Demonstrate the cost value of using Forefront Client Security versus traditional anti-virus software.
   
   Adopting Forefront Client Security in place of traditional anti-virus and anti-spyware solutions is a smart choice. In Microsoft's newly released operating system, Windows Vista, users will have to opt out and actually turn off the Microsoft security tools if they don't want an additional layer of security built in-but who'd do that? With improved anti-virus and anti-spyware functionality, Forefront Client Security is a true and smart alternative to anti-virus and anti-spyware offerings from Symantec, Trend Micro or McAfee, and it won't break the bank.
4. Reallocate security budgets for products that address emerging Web-based threats and protect the endpoint.
   
   The endpoint is particularly vulnerable to attacks. Traveling employees, peer-to-peer file sharing, Web-based e-mail, instant messaging and more can bring malicious code into networks and leak out information unbeknownst to the IT manager. By using Forefront Client Security as your anti-spyware and anti-virus solution, we can help our customers protect the endpoint with Web security solutions that block malicious material from coming in and sensitive data from leaving the network.

Kevin West is CEO of K Logix (www.klogixcorp.com), a $10 million solution provider serving SMBs and Fortune 500 organizations. He can be reached at kwest@klogixcorp.com.