As the first step on the road to .NET, McAfee.com will soon launch a security service integrated with Microsoft Passport to provide single sign-on and registration across multiple Web properties. Additionally, the companies will integrate new HailStorm services, such as notifications, as they are made available.

HailStorm is a code name for a set of user-centric XML Web services that will enable developers to build solutions that work seamlessly with one another over the Internet to deliver a more personalized and consistent user experience. With HailStorm, McAfee.com customers will experience increased efficiency through single sign-on with Passport authentication, and will be notified automatically about security and virus alerts at their workstation or through any other Internet-enabled device.

McAfee.com is one of the largest subscription services on the Internet today, providing customers with high-quality security application services which are a perfect solution to build on the Microsoft .NET platform, said Sanjay Parthasarathy, vice president of .NET Platform Strategy at Microsoft. McAfee.com has been delivering these key services for nearly two years, and in doing so has helped demonstrate that software can be successfully delivered as a service via the Internet. We are excited about collaborating with such a software-as-service pioneer.

The alliance calls for cooperation initially focusing on incorporating .NET technologies and .NET Enterprise Servers within McAfee.com’s online service offerings and joint marketing and promotional activities. It also calls for the companies to work together on the deployment of future HailStorm services. McAfee.com is one of the largest software services on the Internet today and builds on the Microsoft platform.

Microsoft .NET, Microsoft’s XML-based Web Services platform, will benefit both businesses and end users. For businesses, it changes the way they build software and sell products, making information technology a significant contributor to corporate success and introducing new business models. For end users, .NET will produce unparalleled access to a dramatically more personal, integrated computing experience. XML Web Services are constructed using XML for data exchange to help applications, services and devices work together. Sharing data through XML allows them to be independent of each other while simultaneously giving them the ability to loosely link themselves into a collaborative group that performs a particular task.