Microsoft
A comprehensive solution to fight spam must combine strong laws and enforcement with industry cooperation, technological innovation and the empowerment of informed consumers, said Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft Corp., in a Washington Post op-ed. Microsoft SmartScreen technology is blocking as much as 95 percent of spam, he said. The software learns from nearly 200,000 of the companys customers who have volunteered to classify millions of messages as legitimate or not.
Microsoft last week published a technical white paper that describes its internal security practices, which Microsoft hopes will “help customers successfully secure their environments,” the company said. The paper, simply titled “Security at Microsoft,” details the methods and technologies that the companys Operations and Technology Group (OTG) use to secure the companys global corporate network of more than 300,000 computers and 4,200 servers. In addition to publishing the white paper, Microsoft has started broadcasting monthly webcasts featuring senior security executives, who articulate the companys message on securing its products and answer questions from IT professionals about where to find software patches and technical information, said Mike Nash, vice president of Microsofts Security Business Unit.
Privacy
More than 30 U.S. and European civil liberties groups are calling for a voluntary moratorium on the usage of RFID tags. In a statement, the groups said that some uses of RFID technology are inappropriate in a free society and should be flatly prohibited. The groups include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Privacy Information Centre, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Privacy International.