Some of the large Anti-Virus vendors are touting an inline solution for detecting spyware. What are the differences in the Intrusion solution and their solution?
Without knowing the specific vendor you are referring to, we can only give a generalized answer based on the competitive analysis we have done. You are correct in your observation that many of the host based anti-virus vendors are quickly coming to the realization that spyware is a HUGE problem that is reeking havoc on most networks. Some of the vendors have quickly responded with proxy-based solutions that require more than one server or appliance and off-load certain protocols or applications to the proxy server. This process can add a tremendous amount of latency and in some cases, run the risk of missing some covertly embedded spyware applications.
