Microsoft has unveiled two new initiatives to combat hackers who target its monthly security patches, it has announced at the Black Hat conference.

Under its Microsoft Active Protections Programme, the computer giant has said it will provide security software suppliers with early information about the weaknesses being addressed by future patches to enable them to adapt their own products, ComputerWeekly.com reported.

Secondly, its Exploitability Index is a risk assessment provided to users so they can ascertain the likelihood of hackers exploiting new code.

According to the news provider, group manager of Microsoft's security response centre Mike Reavey commented: "We are hoping to tip the balance in our favour by beating the exploits to market."

He added that his company will collaborate with software developers and customers to generate estimates of the risk posed by malware.

Meanwhile, SentryBay has just released its PhishLock software, which it claims offers near-100 per cent protection against spyware and phishing attacks.

The firm says the product is able to provide a defence against attempted breaches the second they have been launched, as unlike traditional security software it does not rely on identifying malware or black-lists which can soon fall out of date.

New research from Connect found that, on average, it takes businesses that use backup tapes take 11.6 hours to retrieve and restore files. Connect is now recommending that SMEs switch to www.connect.co.uk/services/online_backup