Everyone, from computer users to software vendors to government agencies is responsible for cybersecurity, Steve Ballmer, head of Microsoft has exclaimed. Talking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, Ballmer didn’t outline any new security initiatives but did go through Microsoft’s previous efforts since security was officially named as the company’s top priority over two years ago. He reiterated what has become Microsoft’s fall-back defence of the XP service pack 2 whenever it has faced another embarassing security issue, mentioning yet again that it will have the firewall turned on as a default. He said a similar update to the company’s server operating system was also coming. Future versions of the Internet Explorer browser will block automatic pop-up ads and downloads without the user’s permission. “Security is absolutely the – I was going to say ‘a,’ but I’ll say ‘the’ — top priority at Microsoft,” Ballmer went on. Microsoft is also working on ways to block viruses and worms before computers execute their code, he added. “The computer can look at the code and say, ‘It doesn’t smell right to me. I won’t execute this without asking the user for permission’,” Ballmer said outlining “active protection technology”, but failing to explain when the talking, thinking computers would be released onto the market. Full Story
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