Neowin.net

Microsoft the world's biggest software maker, is the biggest target for computer viruses like the SoBig.F worm that wreaked havoc two weeks ago. Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect, talked last week about what it is doing to keep hackers at bay. Following are excerpts from the conversation.

Q. You wrote a memo last year calling on Microsoft to focus on reliable software. Now we've had this series of computer-security-related events that make it appear to outsiders that you aren't making progress. Have you in fact made progress?

A. Well, we've certainly made a lot of progress in terms of creating more reliable software, building tools so that people can stay up to date so that they don't run into these problems, creating the procedures that make sure that the recovery actions get widely communicated. We'd be the first to say that we're doing more and more on this. It was very important that we got the company focused on it, made it part of the reviews of all the different employees.

News source: New York Times

Trillian maker Cerulean Studios is interested in signing a deal with Microsoft, the company's co-founder and head developer Scott Werndorfer said in an e-mail answer to a reporter's questions.

"We're anxious to work with Microsoft on any licensing models they might have," Werndorfer said. He added that Trillian Pro 2.0, which entered beta testing on Aug. 1, supports the latest MSN IM protocol, but did not say if that means that older Trillian clients will be locked out from the MSN IM network soon or if Trillian Pro 2.0 would work with MSN IM regardless of a licensing deal.

Other clients that connect to Microsoft's IM network include Imici and Odigo.

Besides the issue of not wanting to run an IM network for other client makers to exploit, the changes to the MSN IM network also are for security and privacy reasons, Microsoft said.

"If there is unauthorized access to our network, it opens us up to potential security and privacy vulnerabilities," Gurry said. In fact, there is a yet undisclosed security flaw in Microsoft's IM network and clients, she said.

Because of this unknown flaw, Microsoft is forcing users of several older versions of its own MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger clients to upgrade to newer versions. Users that have to upgrade have been alerted via e-mail and will soon start to see notifications in their Messenger client, according to Microsoft.

MSN Messenger is one of the most popular IM services on the Internet, along with AOL's Instant Messenger and Yahoo's Messenger. Microsoft claims about 100 million unique users log on to its service each month. IM services let users exchange text messages in real time and providers have also added video conferencing, PC phone calls, gaming and other features.