Microsoft is planning a series of security improvements to Windows, yet each layer of software protection it adds increases the security risk, an analyst firm has warned. A report by Burton Group said that although Windows 2003 could be deployed as a flexible and inexpensive application server, its security has a chequered past. According to Dan Blum, senior vice-president and research director at Burton Group, attacks such as Nimda, Code Red and Slammer have slowed Windows server adoption in large enterprise extranet and service provider environments, where Linux/Unix servers are generally preferred. The problem lies with Win32, the programming interface used by most applications, he said. Full Story