Microsoft promises to ease security concerns

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has announced plans for security improvements in forthcoming products, to try to ease customer concerns about vulnerabilities in Windows.

Gates says the company will make security its main investment priority this year, improving bug fix, threat isolation and authentication software, and releasing new anti-spyware and anti-phishing products.

Despite this, Microsoft has issued 12 security bulletins, addressing 17 software vulnerabilities, in the last month alone.

Gates says anti-spyware software will be made available for free to all Windows users, and announced plans to release a more secure version of its web browser, Internet Explorer (IE) 7, which will detect spoofed phishing sites and malicious code when it attempts to download.

'There's only really one thing that could stand in the way of realising the full potential of digital infrastructure, and that's security threats: we have to make sure they are kept to a minimum,' Gates told delegates at the RSA Conference.

'That's the top priority for us in research and development (R&D) and customers. We spend $6bn on R&D, and over a third is directly related to security.'

Microsoft will start testing a beta version of IE7 this summer, ahead of the long-awaited launch of the next release of Windows, codenamed Longhorn, which is now scheduled for 2006.

'IE 7 will have a focus on phishing and spyware,' said Gates.

Microsoft also hopes that its planned acquisition of security software supplier Sybari will lead to fewer email viruses and spam for Windows customers.

'Email continues to be the primary means of virus spreads, with about 88 per cent of incidents,' said Gates. Updates to Windows Server products will introduce extra digital identity management capabilities, to combat identity theft.

'It will allow firms to easily roll out digital certificates across machines,' he said. 'Password resets are a very expensive thing, and can often be spoofed so that unwanted people can gain access.'

What do you think? Email feedback@computing.co.uk

If you want to be first with the news, visit Computing every day.