Microsoft, antivirus vendors team on info site

Microsoft has allied with antivirus vendors Network Associates and Trend Micro to form the Virus Information Alliance, an initiative to keep users better informed about virus threats to Microsoft products.

A Web page with the latest information on high-risk viruses affecting Microsoft products has been added to Microsoft's TechNet Web site for IT professionals, Microsoft said in a statement Monday. TechNet is also Microsoft's site for security patches and other information for the IT community.

As part of the alliance, Microsoft, Network Associates and Trend Micro will exchange technical information on newly discovered viruses to quickly tell users about the risk and what to do for protection. The site will refer to the antivirus vendors for extra detail, according to an information page on Microsoft TechNet.

Microsoft software, which is installed on the vast majority of PCs in the world and on a large number of servers, has been a target of many viruses and worms, with widespread disruption of e-mail communication and online business as a result.

The TechNet virus information pages will eventually also offer documentation and other online resources that will help users protect themselves, according to Microsoft.

The Virus Information Alliance page on TechNet is at:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/virus/