Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates said the software giant will develop security technologies that are more fully integrated into personal computers in order to make
them more resistant to viruses and worms. Speaking at the RSA Conference in San Francisco Tuesday, Gates demonstrated security upgrades in Windows XP Service Pack 2, including Windows Firewall,
Security Center, and browsing upgrades in Internet Explorer. He also described Microsoft's Coordinated Spam Reduction Initiative (CSRI), and technical specifications for creating a caller ID-like
feature for email to help prevent domain spoofing. He positioned Microsoft Exchange Edge Services as the next generation of email protection, designed to better protect corporate systems from a
tidal wave of viruses and junk email. "No single technology can adequately protect against the many different kinds of attacks that computers face," Gates said. "Resiliency can only be achieved
with a combination of security technologies designed to combat the sophisticated threat from worms and viruses." Gates showed Windows XP upgrades that include a new Windows Security Center, which
will enable users to automatically check the status of essential security features, such as firewall, automatic update, and anti-virus functionality. Microsoft's CSRI plan includes setting standards
for high-volume email senders, and creating viable identification alternatives for smaller-scale email senders. Gates said that Microsoft is moving ahead with plans for a pilot implementation of
Caller ID for EMail in its Hotmail® service. In addition, the company continues to work with other organizations, including Amazon.com and Brightmail Inc., to help test the proposal.
