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Yesterday at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2004, Mike Nash, corporate vice president for the Security Business and Technology Unit at Microsoft Corp., provided an update on the continued commitment Microsoft has made to help improve the security of computers and networks. Nash outlined steps Microsoft has taken and noted measured progress to date, including technical innovation in providing greater isolation and resilience for computers and networks; improvements to security update tools and processes; expanded authorisation, authentication and access control capabilities; improvements to quality through a commitment to engineering excellence; and success in providing global customer guidance and engagement. Nash also announced the general availability of Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004 and outlined Microsoft’s strategy for Network Access Protection technologies.

“Our customers have asked us to work together to make it easier for them to protect their networks against malicious attacks,” Nash said. “Although we’ve seen progress in addressing some of our top customer concerns, we remain focused on the evolving security challenges and are committed to working with industry partners to improve the security of PCs and networks around the world.”

News source: Microsoft

Ongoing Commitment to Address Security
Security is a top priority for Microsoft, and the company’s commitment to improving security and working with partners to help them secure their infrastructures is an ongoing effort, Nash noted. Further details on the progress and commitments that were highlighted include the following:

· Advancements in providing greater isolation and resilience to systems to improve their ability to mitigate the impact of malicious code will include the forthcoming availability of Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2. This has been provisionally scheduled for launch in August, and includes innovations to provide safer browsing, stronger default security settings, and the automatic installation of new security features to better protect customers and their computers from hackers, viruses and other security risks. Nash also discussed ISA Server 2004, Microsoft’s next-generation application firewall, virtual private network and Web cache solution. In addition, Nash discussed Network Access Protection technologies, Microsoft’s strategy for more secure access to networks that will provide network policy validation, network isolation and network policy compliance.

· Improvements in security update tools and processes, highlighting the more streamlined process of issuing security updates monthly to make the process more manageable for customers. This has led, in part, to a 400 per cent growth in the use of Windows Automatic Update over the past 10 months and approximately 112,000 servers connecting to Microsoft to check for content per day using Software Update Services.

· Expanded authorisation, authentication and access control, with the endorsement of Microsoft’s Windows Rights Management Services from EDS, GigaTrust and Liquid Machines Inc.

· Quality improvements through engineering excellence, referencing the 69 per cent reduction in critical and important bulletins issued for Windows Server 2003 relative to Windows 2000 Server in the initial year following their respective releases.

· Global customer guidance and engagement to help build security best practices among consumers and businesses. It was also confirmed that in the past 10 months Microsoft has provided security training to more than 510,000 IT professionals, including approximately 140,000 industry partners. Nash also thanked partners for their diligent efforts to help customers achieve a more secure infrastructure and encouraged them to participate in Microsoft’s Security Solutions Competency Programme. More information about the security solutions competency can be found at http://members.microsoft.com/partner/progr...ysolutions.aspx