Microsoft claims ongoing commitment to security

Microsoft has provided an update on its ongoing Trustworthy Computing effort to beef up the security of its products and services.

Speaking today at the RSA Conference Europe 2004, Rich Kaplan, corporate vice president of the software giant's Security Business & Technology Unit, previewed its forthcoming Windows Rights Management Services (RMS) Service Pack 1 beta.

Kaplan also showed off Microsoft's Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004 partner validation programme, and announced the general release of the Microsoft Security Bulletin Advanced Notification programme.

"Although we've seen progress in addressing some of our customers' top concerns, we remain focused on the evolving security challenges and are committed to working with our industry partners worldwide to improve the security of PCs and networks as part of our Trustworthy Computing initiative," said Kaplan.

He claimed that the latest update to Microsoft's media rights offering allows better protection of digital information such as web content, documents and email from unauthorised use.

The service adds support for smartcards, and tightens up integration with Active Directory. It also allows firms to deploy a rights management system without a network connection to the internet and without an operational dependency on an external entity such as Microsoft.

Kaplan went on to claim that the recent August release of Windows XP Service Pack 2 has been distributed to more than 110 million customers worldwide.

He said that despite rollout problems, customer and industry response to the Windows Security Center in XP SP2 has been "overwhelmingly positive".

Kaplan also kicked off the ISA Server 2004 Validation Programme, established in collaboration with VeriTest, designed to help resolve interoperability issues between participating ISVs and ISA Server 2004.