Evolving our Windows approach to AV, thanks to partner feedback

Evolving our Windows approach to AV, thanks to partner feedback

Earlier this summer I shared that we believe in a healthy antivirus ecosystem working with us in protecting our shared customers from security threats. Our top priority is and always will be to protect our customers with security innovations for the Windows platform, increase our customers’ pre- and post-breach security stance, and provide a platform that offers choice.

Part of delivering on that commitment is listening and responding to feedback from our customers and partners. We work closely with AV partners like Kaspersky Lab, and at our Microsoft Virus Initiative forum last month, we made great progress in building upon our shared understanding of how we deliver Windows 10 updates and security experiences that help ensure the ongoing safety of Windows customers.

I’m pleased to share these discussions have helped us clarify our roadmap and implementation plans. As a result, we are making updates to our AV partner requirements today that reflect the interests of the community and our shared customers. We will also implement changes in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

Here are some of the changes we are making to support our partners in delivering security protections to Windows customers.

• We will work more closely with AV vendors to help them with compatibility reviews in advance of each feature update becoming available to customers. This means customers can expect we will have worked through compatibility issues with AV providers before offering the update to customers running that AV.
• We will give AV partners better visibility and certainty around release schedules for feature updates. This includes increasing the amount of time AV partners will have to review final builds before the next Windows 10 feature update is rolled out to customers.
• We will enable AV providers to use their own alerts and notifications to renew antivirus products before and after they have expired.
• We have modified how Windows will inform users when their antivirus application has expired and is no longer protecting them. Instead of providing an initial toast notification that users could ignore, the new notification will persist on the screen until the user either elects to renew the existing solution or chooses to rely on Windows Defender or another solution provider.

We appreciate the feedback and continued dialogue with our partners and are pleased to have found common ground with Kaspersky Lab on the complaints raised in Russia and Europe. We look forward to our continued partnership with the industry.

Customers deserve the best and most up-to-date protection possible. Microsoft and our security partners share a commitment to keep them safe.

Source: Evolving our Windows approach to AV, thanks to partner feedback