Stirling released, as expected

At the RSA conference on Tuesday, Microsoft released the anticipated beta of its next-generation Forefront security product, code-named Stirling. Stirling includes security information management features (Microsoft calls these features "dynamic response") that integrate the entire Forefront family together. This includes Forefront Client Security, Forefront Security for Exchange Server, Forefront Security for SharePoint and the next generation of Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA Server). Microsoft announced the name of the next ISA Server, too. It shall be dubbed Forefront Threat Management Gateway. The idea is that all Forefront components can share information to detect and automatically respond to threats, Microsoft says.

The beta of Stirling can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/stirling. Besides the new name, Microsoft promised more details about the new ISA Server later this year.

As for Stirling, the first version is integrated with System Center Operations Manager 2007 and later versions will integrate with System Center Configuration Manager 2007, the company said. The software uses Windows Server Update Services and Active Directory.

Stay tuned for more analysis on Stirling and RSA from Microsoft Subnet blogger Tyson Kopczynski in his Hidden Microsoft blog. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=kopczynski

Will this integrated suite make Microsoft a contender for enterprise security? Or will it remain mostly of interest only to Microsoft-centric shops?

Go to the Microsoft Subnet home page for more news, blogs, podcasts.

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