Recently, Bill Gates announced his intention to improve the quality of security services offered by Microsoft.
To bolster this talk, the Redmond software king released their free AntiSpyware tool, announced a more secure Internet Explorer 7, released a security-based update of SQL Server 2005, and bought the enterprise security company Sybari. All of these moves were made with the intention of addressing long-existing security issues the company faces.
However, reaction to Microsoft’s security push has been one of “show me”. Boost Marketing offers a look at how the business side of security could be affected once Microsoft officially launches their upcoming free security software
But what about its allies? The companies who currently provide an extra layer of security for Microsoft products may be edged out. Most welcome healthy competition while some believe a level playing field is impossible with Microsoft as a direct competitor, noting that smaller companies cannot afford to be as generous as the software giant, who plans on giving some of its security tools at no cost.
Microsoft says they are the ones who get the blame when security products breakdown. Customers see it as a fault with Windows or Internet Explorer and do not recognize it as an outsourced software problem.
In InformationWeek.com, Bob Evans looks Microsoft’s approach to their new strategy:
Microsoft and Gates are betting that their customers will give the company and its somewhat shaky security history another 6-9 months to substantially improve existing products while simultaneously releasing new software conceived and developed with security as a top priority. It’s as if Gates and Co. have pushed a massive stack of chips into the middle of the table and said, “This matches what your company’s already spent on Windows infrastructure and applications and standardization, and”–they push another heaping pile into the center of the table–“this raise represents what you’d have to spend on top of that to migrate to a different platform.”
Now, granted, software is not simple to create, and the escalating skills and inventiveness of the loathsome bastards behind the epidemic of cybercrime present a daunting challenge. And, to be sure, Microsoft has significantly increased its commitment to making all of its products and technologies more secure.
But that’s not enough. It’s not enough to just stare across the table and say, “I know you won’t drop out because you’re already invested every chip you have and you’ve got nowhere to go, so just sit tight and wait til I decide what I’m gonna do.”
The Financial Express also offers a look at the future of Microsoft’s security initiative. In his article, Professor Varadharagan Sridhar discusses various methods of Microsoft will disperse their new security offerings (Service Pack 3?)
With the recent acquisitions, day is not far off when Windows XP service pack 3 will be released which includes even anti-virus software! Normally anti-virus software, much like a Firewall, is installed on the network and is managed by network administrators. With all the security features bundled in to desktop operating system, Windows is becoming bigger and resource hungry! Soon you will find your Pentium 4 becoming sluggish to even run the operating system, forget about other applications! While it is impossible to produce software which is one hundred percent error free and reliable, poor software engineering practices and the pressure to release code on time due to market pressures have resulted in this alarming situation faced by Microsoft.
Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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