Yet Another Security Initiative From Microsoft
Bill Gates, Microsoft Chairman, gave the keynote address at the RSA
Security conference held in San Francisco this week. Mr. Gates
introduced yet another Microsoft security initiative to a somewhat
hostile audience.
He explained that the majority of Microsoft's research and development
budget now goes towards security. "Our research group is making
advances that are very important here," he said. Gates also spoke
about the now two year old Microsoft Trusted Computing
initiative. "Over the last two years, I think we've made a lot of
progress," he said. Indeed, new software developed and launched since
the initiative began has proven to be more secure, with Windows 2003
having about half the critical vulnerabilities of its predecessor.
"The people who attack these systems are getting more and more
sophisticated," Gates said. "For every time we take a type of attack
and eliminate that as an opportunity, they move up to a whole new
level. That's not an unending process - we can make it dramatically
difficult," but it will require substantially more work on Microsoft's
part, and will also require a change in attitude.
"[Security] is not at the top of the list of what should hold us back
from innovating," Gates said. "I'm very optimistic about this, even
though there are a lot of years of work ahead of us."
RSA Security, the host to the annual conference, develops and sells
various encryption products, including the popular PGP encryption
package. RSA technology also helps make shopping secure on the
Internet by providing the safe encryption between web browsers and
servers known as SSL.
Microsoft's New Security Plan
Microsoft is introducing some new features into some of its key
products. These include:
- A code-scanning feature build into the next version of the
programmer's Visual Studio
- A pop-up blocker added to Internet Explorer
- An enhanced firewall for Windows XP
- Various "active protection technologies" which will monitor a
computer's performance and usage looking for potential viruses and
worms
- White lists built into Outlook to provide an "opt-in" capability
for e-mail receipt
- E-mail puzzle inclusion, which would slow down the delivery of
SPAM, and also increase the cost to SPAMmers
A new system-wide Windows Security Control Center will also be
introduced into Windows XP in Security Pack 2. This control center
will monitor various security aspects of any computer it is installed
on. It is intended to provide users with an overview of their
computer's current security level. It will let them know what their
anti-virus, firewall and other security software has been up to.
Conclusion
Microsoft's position as the number one target for hackers isn't likely
to change until Microsoft's own position as the number one software
vendor world-wide changes. Gate's own attitude of innovation before
security isn't going to hurry things along. It will be a long time
before things are solved at Microsoft.
Gates conclusion? "There's not a single solution to the problem of
cyber security," he said. "It's a range of solutions that need to be
deployed collectively to raise the overall security." Let's hope they
hurry.
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