by Rachel Ross
Microsoft Corp. claims it's not to blame for the majority of computer crashes and the company wants to reach out to those it says are responsible.
Scott Charney, Microsoft's chief trustworthy-computing strategist, said the software giant is committed to working with smaller software vendors who actually cause most of the problems.
"One of the things that we've found — which actually surprised us a bit — was that more than half of all computer crashes were not due to Microsoft code," said Charney, in Toronto yesterday talking to Microsoft customers and partners about security.
"You've got all these independent software developers ... they have to write secure code too."
Charney said Microsoft will continue to work with outside developers to ensure a more reliable computing experience and to release new software that will help programmers spot problems with their code.
Microsoft is also working with a number of universities to change the curriculum so that students learn how to write code with security in mind, he said.
Making software more secure and reliable are two of the cornerstones of Microsoft's trustworthy-computing initiative, which was first announced in 2002.
Microsoft executives believe there is no quick fix for software security flaws, and they say it will take 10 to 15 years before software is trusted by consumers the same way they have grown to trust electricity.
Still, Charney said he thinks Microsoft's software is more reliable now than it was two years ago. He noted that unlike some older Microsoft operating systems, Windows Server 2003 was immune to the Sasser worm that recently spread across the Internet.
Part of Microsoft's current challenge is in getting existing clients to upgrade their software and security.
"The new products are more secure, but people aren't running them," said Charney, who before joining Microsoft was chief of the computer crime and intellectual property section for the U.S. department of justice.
Charney said Microsoft will soon release a new service pack for Windows XP, designed to make it easier for consumers to manage the often troublesome process of keeping their computers secure.
Source: Toronto Star
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