Microsoft Delays 'Stirling' Security Suite

Microsoft has decided to delay its integrated security suite, code-named Stirling, until the fourth quarter of 2009.

Stirling was initially supposed to ship in the first half of this year. According to Microsoft, the company will begin releasing the suite in the fourth quarter of 2009 with the launch of Forefront Server Security for Exchange and Forefront Threat Management Gateway (formerly Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server).

The Stirling management console, Forefront Client Security 2.0 and Forefront Security for SharePoint will be released in the first half of 2010.

“We have been working closely with customers in our Technology Adoption Program to gather their feedback about how we can deliver the best experience and value with Stirling,” according to a blog post by Microsoft’s Identity and Security team. “One of the top customer requests was adding interoperability with third-party security solutions. In response, we plan to increase our focus on one of the unique features of Stirling, Security Assessment Sharing [SAS].”

In addition, the company said it is developing behavior-based technology it referred to as Dynamic Signature Service to improve endpoint protection against for zero-day attacks.

“This will complement the Stirling suite's advanced heuristics, dynamic translation and real-time application scanning for kernel-level malware with a sophisticated approach to on-demand threat mitigation,” according to the company.

A second public beta of Stirling and a release candidate will ship prior to the final release.