An interesting new piece of security freeware was launched today as Dasient introduced an open source version of its Web server infection remediation technology.

An offspring of Dasient's Web Anti-Malware (WAM) remediation package, the open source Mod Anti-Malware Lite release is an Apache server module that promises to allow Web site operators, Web hosts and developers to better protect themselves against having their URLs corrupted by malware.

The software specifically promises to monitor for and identify online malware infection attempts before they can take root on protected URLs, and then quarantine the involved attacks to prevent them from spreading any further.

In addition to preventing actual attacks from propagating over their sites, the package also helps URL owners avoid the downsides of having their operations black-listed by security vendors and search engines, a significant issue to rebound from for many of the mom-and-pop type sites that are currently being infected in droves, Dasient claims.

"Now more than ever it's important for site owners to deploy defenses that can operate at the scale and speed required to deal with this problem," Dr. Neil Daswani, one of Dasient's three co-founders and a former Google engineer, said in an official announcement.

Dasient is making Mod Anti-Malware Lite available so that people can test certain elements of the technology, with hopes that some will be willing to pay for the paid monitoring and diagnostic services necessary to get the product to flex all of its muscles.

However, anyone who downloads and installs the freeware version will be granted a limited free trial of the paid services.

The company also launched a new partner program aimed at encouraging Web hosting providers to adopt its services to defend their customer domains.

Along with Daswani, Dasient was founded by former Google engineer Shariq Rizvi and former McKinsey strategy consultant Ameet Ranadive. The company's financial backers include some of the same people behind Twitter, VeriSign and Finjan.

Matt Hines has been following the IT industry for over a decade as a reporter and blogger, and has been specifically focused on the security space since 2003, including a previous stint writing for eWeek and contributing to the Security Watch blog. Hines is currently employed as marketing communications manager at Core Security Technologies, a Boston-based maker of security testing software. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of Core Security, and neither the company, nor its products and services will be actively discussed in the blog. Please send news, research or tips to SecurityWatchBlog@gmail.com.