If you lead IT customers to the security trough, will they drink?
Microsoft seems convinced they will. And the company is pulling out all the stops to continue to educate its users, reasoning that a more educated customer base will be a more secure customer base.
In a Tuesday Web cast, Mike Nash, corporate vice president in charge of Microsofts security business and technology unit, reiterated the companys plans to continue to deliver security-assessment and vulnerability-analysis tools as part of its educational outreach.
Nash also told participants that Microsoft on Wednesday will release for download a new scripting capability for its Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 1.2, a product which performs scans of Windows systems for security misconfigurations. The new scripting tool will allow users to scan an unlimited number of computers or IP addresses from a single input file.
Nash said Microsoft is sticking to its current security-product timetable. In the first half of this year, the company will roll out its Windows XP Service Pack 2 release. (A broad-scale beta of SP2 is expected imminently.) It also will deliver the final release of its Internet Security and Acceleration 2004 product before mid-year, Nash said.
/zimages/4/28571.gifClick hereto read more about security features in Windows XP Service Pack 2.
In the second half of this year, Microsoft will deliver its first service pack for Windows Server 2003; its Windows Update Services 2.0, formerly known as Software Update Services; its Microsoft Update patch-catalog technology; and other, unnamed security “enhancements,” he said.
Some time in the future—Nash did not specify any dates—Microsoft will deliver its Exchange Edge Services, Next Generation Secure Computing Base (formerly code-named “Palladium”) and its Active Protection technologies, he said.
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