Microsoft Mends Security Ties

Dom · Aug 4, 2003, 11:54 PM

LAS VEGAS—Cats and dogs living together.

That's the only way to describe the party that Microsoft Corp. threw here Thursday night at the close of the Black Hat Briefings. The gathering was billed as a thank-you for all of the people who have helped the software giant improve the security of its products over the years. Given that agenda, one would have reasonably expected to see a crowd of current and former Microsoft employees with a few outside experts thrown in for good measure.

But the group that showed up at the ultra-hip Ghostbar lounge at The Palms hotel was instead made up of the crème of the crop of security researchers, crypto experts and even high-level Bush administration officials. With more piercings and tattoos per capita than the population of most college campuses, the guest list was a flat-out who's who of the security world. And the fact that they all turned out for a party put on by Microsoft—a company considered by many in the room to be the root of all evil—was the most surprising twist of all.

To call Microsoft's relationship with the security community strained would have been a vast understatement in years past. But, the combination of the company's massive internal effort to improve the security of its software and the outreach and communications work done by the Microsoft Security Response Center has apparently thawed relations between the two sides considerably.

Read More...

Aug 4, 2003, 11:54 PM	#1
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	Microsoft Mends Security Ties LAS VEGAS—Cats and dogs living together. That's the only way to describe the party that Microsoft Corp. threw here Thursday night at the close of the Black Hat Briefings. The gathering was billed as a thank-you for all of the people who have helped the software giant improve the security of its products over the years. Given that agenda, one would have reasonably expected to see a crowd of current and former Microsoft employees with a few outside experts thrown in for good measure. But the group that showed up at the ultra-hip Ghostbar lounge at The Palms hotel was instead made up of the crème of the crop of security researchers, crypto experts and even high-level Bush administration officials. With more piercings and tattoos per capita than the population of most college campuses, the guest list was a flat-out who's who of the security world. And the fact that they all turned out for a party put on by Microsoft—a company considered by many in the room to be the root of all evil—was the most surprising twist of all. To call Microsoft's relationship with the security community strained would have been a vast understatement in years past. But, the combination of the company's massive internal effort to improve the security of its software and the outreach and communications work done by the Microsoft Security Response Center has apparently thawed relations between the two sides considerably. Read More...