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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ibexx who wrote (64351)	1/21/2002 10:22:46 PM
From: John A. Stoops	Respond to of 74651

Microsoft May Delay Certain Products to Fix Security (Update3) By Dina Bass Phoenix, Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. may delay the next version of its operating system for server computers and other products to improve security, said Cliff Reeves, a vice president in the largest software maker's Windows server group. About 7,000 engineers in the Windows operating system, word- processing and e-mail product groups are in security training, Reeves said in a telephone interview from a Gartner Inc. conference in Phoenix. That, and the need to fix any security flaws that are found, may result in delays. Chairman Bill Gates last week sent an e-mail to employees saying Microsoft must make security a higher priority than new features. Microsoft is trying to take customers from rivals such as Sun Microsystems Inc. with its Windows server software and must improve security to do that. Delays can hurt sales of the server products the company is relying on to fuel growth. ``Undoubtedly this will cause delays in products, but we would hardly be credible if we didn't do this,'' said Reeves. ``Once you decide to do this, it takes priority over everything else. Other things might have to become to second, like features and ship dates.'' Security improvements at Microsoft are designed to make sure programs don't go on sale with flaws that can let a hacker take over computers and gain access to files. In the past year, thousands of servers running Microsoft software were infected with the Code Red worm, and the new Windows XP program for personal computers was susceptible to hackers. Windows Microsoft hasn't disclosed a release date for the next version of the Windows server software for running Web sites and corporate networks. Windows .Net Server will go on sale in the middle of the year, the company said. Reeves said the software probably will be available by the end of September, and might have been completed earlier if not for the security concerns. Reeves will speak this afternoon about software security at the Gartner conference for midsized businesses. Training for Microsoft engineers is expected to be complete by the end of the month, Reeves said. The company is screening products for common security vulnerabilities, he said. Microsoft is also holding security-training sessions for customers. Internet Services Microsoft plans to sell Internet services that help users manage financial and medical records, purchase goods online and view their files, documents and e-mail from any computer. Customers are unlikely to buy such services if they fear their data could be stolen. ``We need to get to point where you don't feel any qualms at all about having your medical records on the Internet,'' Reeves said. Reeves also is advising attendees of the Gartner conference on the importance of protecting corporate data from theft by employees. A 1999 study by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that 84 percent of attacks against company networks and data come from inside, he said. Microsoft requires employee passwords to be of a certain length and changed often, Reeves said. Employees must use an identification card to log in to the corporate network from home offices and while traveling, he said. The cards are scanned by devices attached to PCs and laptops.