Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Security better, but needs work, Gates says


In his swan song to an annual gathering of 15,000 computer security experts here Tuesday, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said the software giant has made giant strides in security.

But he acknowledged that threats from malicious computer code and the proliferation of devices connected to the Internet have made security a moving target.


"Computer security is 100 times better today than in 2002," Gates said in an interview after he and Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, delivered a joint speech. "But there has been an evolution in spam and phishing (fraudulent e-mail designed to filch personal data), and you can't apply Band-Aids to the problem."


Source: usatoday.com


"Security is about weak links, and passwords are the weakest link," says Gates, who is relinquishing duties as Microsoft's spokesman at high-profile computer shows as he devotes more time to philanthropic work.

Gates favors "public key certificates" — combinations of digital signatures and identifying information such as a person's name, address and Social Security number.

He also advocated the use of rights-management systems so companies can limit who forwards or opens e-mail messages, thus reducing the risk of data loss. And he touted biometric smart cards to cut down the risk of ID theft.


Source: usatoday.com



Bill Gates calls for more powerful computer security

Tags: Spam | Security | research | Computer | windows vista | Technology | San Francisco | Microsoft | Gates

No comments: