Gates: Our security push cost $100 million
Reuters | at | by Mike
Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates on Thursday said the company's high-profile campaign to improve the security of its software had cost at least $100 million this year, but said the expense was paying off in better products. In the early months of this year, Microsoft interrupted the development work of more than 8,500 engineers and sent many on special training to improve the security of its Windows operating system. That "stand-down" took nearly two months and cost at least $100 million, Gates said on Thursday.
"We've undertaken similar code reviews and security training for Microsoft Office and Visual Studio .NET, and will be doing so for other products as well," he said in the e-mail, in which he touted the progress that has been made since January when he proclaimed security as Microsoft's top priority.