Microsoft hails "real progress" on improving security
Microsoft claims it has made "real progress" in the last year towards its goal of Trustworthy Computing but criticised businesses for failing to be more proactive on security.
Speaking at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner conference in Toronto, Mike Nash, corporate VP of the security business and technology unit at Microsoft, said key milestones include the forthcoming Windows XP Service Pack 2 and the availability of Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2004 standard edition.
The overhaul of Microsoft's security update tools and processes has also yielded results. There has been a 400 per cent growth in consumer use of Windows Automatic Update in the last 10 months, and 112,000 unique servers now connect to Microsoft's website for software update services.
But Nash said many users are still too reactive about security. "I'm still surprised how many customers have not thought about a security plan," he said.
He also urged partners and resellers to push customers into upgrading to the latest versions of Windows because of the security benefits but admitted this is unrealistic to expect.
But as a matter of priority Nash said users should look for the latest versions of Microsoft software for "servers that face the internet and machines and laptops that are mobile".
"Customers who use Windows Server 2003 are much more secure than those who use Windows 2000," he said.
