BEIJING, Jan. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Microsoft Corp. introduced on Thursday two free security tools --  Windows AntiSpyware and malware-removal -- designed to help users shut off spyware and other malicious code.

    

Microsoft Corp.'s introduction of two free security tools designed to help users get rid of spyware and other malicious code is a long-overdue move from a company whose software is the biggest target of attacks on the Internet.

Windows AntiSpyware, launched in beta, or test, mode, can eliminates programs that generate unwanted pop-up ads and secretly record a computer user's activities.

    This new software is based on a program from Giant Company Software Inc., which Microsoft acquired last month for an undisclosed amount.

    The world's largest software maker on the same day also released a malicious-software-removal tool designed to scan and clean up infected PCs of worms, viruses and other malicious code. The tool consolidates a series of tools that Microsoft has shipped since January 2004, each targeting a single virus, worm or variants, including Blaster, Mydoom and Download.Ject.

    The tool, available through Windows Update, is based on technology that Microsoft acquired from its 2003 purchase of Romanian antivirus software maker GeCAD Software.

    Both programs are part of an effort by the Redmond, Washington-based company to offer its own computer and Internet security software. Microsoft is also preparing a subscription service, code-named "A1," to provide regular updates for such software, according to the reports of Reuters.

    Microsoft's release of an antispyware tool is overdue, said Russ Cooper, editor of the NTBugTraq newslist and an analyst at Herndon, Va.-based TruSecure Corp.

    "I think it's about time. Its taken a long time for Microsoft to acknowledge that what's been happening to PCs in terms of Trojans and spyware is a result of mechanisms built into Internet Explorer" designed to add functionality, he was quoted as saying by Computerworld. Enditem

    (Agencies)