While gaining Microsoft as a competitor in the computer security arena might look like an intimidating proposition, a McAfee executive on Wednesday said he looks forward to dealing with the software giant. “I actually look forward to them kind of joining the whole industry,” said George L. Heron, vice president and chief scientist at McAfee, during an Oakland A’s game at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. (McAfee hosted journalists and analysts in a luxury box for Wednesday’s A’s game against the Boston Red Sox.)“[Microsoft has] a lot of catching up to do and we welcome that kind of competition,” Heron said. McAfee, meanwhile, has been in the computer security business for a long time, he said. Microsoft’s security offerings have been limited to antivirus software, antispam software and a firewall, Heron said. McAfee offers a fuller breadth of products, said Heron.Still, McAfee is awaiting access to information about the inner workings of the upcoming Windows Vista OS so the company can tune its products to work with it. “Right now, it’s kind of closed,” he said. “We’re just sort of learning about what is coming,” said Heron, who acknowledged that Vista is still in a beta release. Microsoft, however, may be overdoing it in locking down Vista details, which may present a problem for providers, he said. Microsoft in June published a white paper outlining its security plans for Vista. McAfee, meanwhile, is focused on the risk management market, Heron said. The company’s planned acquisition of Preventsys plays into this strategy. McAfee also seeks to add more technology to verify the safety of computers being plugged into a network and may either develop the technology itself or buy it from a third party, Heron said.(By the way, the A’s won, 7-2.) Security