Microsoft yesterday made its third move in six months into the email anti-virus protection sector, announcing it would acquire managed services firm FrontBridge, reports Internet News.

The move will bolster Microsoft's ability to deliver a service for enforcing compliance through archiving messages while minimizing spam and viruses, the company said.

FrontBridge's outsourcing service allows companies to have their email and instant messaging scanned before it reaches internal corporate networks, and its subscription service allows companies to back up their messages and comply with regulations, AustralianIT.

"Our commitment to listening and responding to customers really drove the union with FrontBridge, because both companies are focused on solving the same difficult messaging challenge - ensuring customers' email is compliant, better protected from spam and virus threats, and always available, even in the case of unforeseeable disaster," Dave Thompson, corporate vice president of the Exchange Server Group at Microsoft, said in a statement.

In February, Microsoft purchased Sybari Software, a provider of anti-virus, anti-spam and content-filtering technologies for enterprise customers, and in December 2004 it purchased Giant Software, which makes anti-spyware software, according to Internet News.