Politech: FC: Bill Gates talks up security, privacy at MS summit

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Bill Gates Opens SafeNet 2000 Summit

PR News Wire via Dow Jones
Privacy and Security Leaders From Industry, Government and Academia Gather on
The Microsoft Campus
REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) 
Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates today addressed privacy 
and security leaders from the areas of technology, government, law 
enforcement, policy, academia and consumer protection, challenging the 
community to jointly address some of the most pressing issues facing 
security and privacy today. During a keynote speech that opened SafeNet 
2000: Policy and Practice in the Internet Age, Gates shared his belief that 
in order for the next generation of the Internet to succeed and thrive, the 
industry must provide a level of trust and control to consumers, businesses 
and network providers through technology, tools and practices built around 
industrywide agreement on the critical issues surrounding security and 
privacy.
(Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)
"Microsoft is committed to building the technology and tools customers 
demand for safe and secure computing and to leading the discussions 
necessary to move forward on critical security and privacy issues," Gates 
said. "In an era where the Internet is increasingly central to our lives at 
work, at home and at school, it is more important than ever that our 
industry gives customers the assurance that their information will remain 
secure, respected and private. SafeNet 2000 provides a forum for some of 
the best minds in industry, government and research to collaborate on 
resolving these complex and crucial issues."
Trust, Convenience and Control: Security and Privacy in a Connected World
Gates emphasized that as business on the Internet becomes more pervasive, 
industry must tackle the challenges of customer trust and control or risk 
losing customer confidence. At the same time, Gates noted, products and 
services must be designed and integrated in a way that does not make them 
difficult to operate in a secure fashion. In his speech, Microsoft's 
co-founder called on the industry to acknowledge that the solutions to 
security and privacy challenges, which are often comingled in the minds of 
consumers, cannot be driven by one single group; rather, the future lies in 
how vendors, government and academic groups come together to arm customers 
with the technologies, tools and standards necessary for assuring trust and 
secure computing in the digital age.
Technology
Gates pointed to the launch of Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 2000 as a milestone 
in the Microsoft commitment to security and privacy technology. Windows 
2000 is the most secure operating system Microsoft has ever shipped, with 
security standards such as Public Key Infrastructure and Kerberos built in. 
Gates also highlighted some of the security features in upcoming versions 
of Windows, which will allow customers to keep unsigned code from running, 
helping to limit the damage that can be caused by malicious programs.
During his keynote, Gates demonstrated the smart card pilot program 
currently underway on Microsoft's campus. Gates showed the audience how 
some employees are using Windows Powered Smart Cards to access buildings 
and securely log into their computers. Smart cards illustrate the 
importance of adding two-factor authentication to further secure a 
corporate network environment. Last spring, Gates had called on the 
industry to begin the move away from passwords as the sole form of 
authentication, and today Gates announced that Microsoft had moved out of 
its pilot phase and would begin the deployment of smart cards in the 
Microsoft corporate network in the coming year.
Finally, Gates outlined some of the work Microsoft is doing to provide 
software developers around the world with better tools to achieve the goal 
of designing and shipping secure software. In the upcoming Visual 
Studio(R).NET development system, Microsoft will ship a language called C# 
(pronounced "C Sharp") that will include features to catch some of the most 
common security vulnerabilities, such as buffer overruns, in the 
development process. Visual Studio.NET is scheduled to ship next year.
Community Leadership
In his address to the group, Gates noted the importance of industry leaders 
"stepping up to the plate" on promising solutions that can move the online 
world closer to more complete and consistent privacy and security. Gates 
highlighted the industry's past six months of progress on Platform for 
Privacy Preferences (P3P) efforts and Microsoft's commitment to both 
client- and server-side implementations of P3P, including incorporating the 
specification into the next Windows operating system, code-named "Whistler."
Gates demonstrated a P3P implementation and user interface scheduled to be 
unveiled with the beta 2 version of "Whistler" early next year. The 
implementation allows for the efficient exchange of information between 
Internet Explorer 6 technologies in "Whistler" and a statement of the 
privacy practices of the Web site visited.
SafeNet 2000 will continue over the next two days, charging panelists and 
working groups with the development of best practices and standards of care 
for information protection. Topics will range from "Information Sharing and 
Infrastructure Protection" to "The Future of Privacy Self Regulation." 
Additional keynote speeches will be delivered by John McCarthy, group 
director of politics and government at Forrester Research Inc., speaking on 
the future of privacy in an increasingly wireless world; and Richard 
Clarke, national coordinator for security, counter-terrorism and 
infrastructure protection for the National Security Council.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services 
and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company 
offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people 
through great software -- any time, any place and on any device.
NOTE: Microsoft, Visual Studio and Windows are either registered trademarks 
or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the 
trademarks of their respective owners.
/NOTE TO EDITORS: If you are interested in viewing additional information 
on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft home page at
http://microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft's corporate information pages/




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