Like it or not--we need Microsoft's security
ZDNet | at | by Mike
Back in January, the industry's collective jaw dropped when an internal e-mail from Bill Gates, clearly intended for wider circulation, announced to the world that security was now the company's number one priority, even ahead of new features. Industry watchers quipped that this could mean no more new Microsoft products. If the company just promised not to deliver insecure products, what could it do, given its apparent inability to deliver any other kind? The press looked at the endless list of patches and service packs, of features switched on that should be off, and other problems, and seized on a new stick to beat the company with.
First of all, we of the press at the show were favourably impressed. Microsoft developers were putting a dollar figure on the security push, and it was high $100m for .Net server alone, according to David Thompson, vice president of Microsoft's Windows server group). For another thing, there were noticeably more sessions at this conference relating to security -- and they were getting much higher audiences. Sessions on updates to key products, such as Active Directory, were majoring on security issues. Within of Microsoft's own developers and the community of people using its tools, it is very clear that "secure" has surpassed "cool" in the league of buzzwords. Indeed, it is now true to say that secure is cool.
As far as I can tell, this is a real change in attitude.