Everyone has stake in cybersecurity

Everyone, from computer users to software suppliers to government agencies, is responsible for cybersecurity, says Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer. Although Ballmer did not reveal new security initiatives, he outlined the steps Microsoft has taken since its chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates called for security to become a top priority for the company in January 2002. Among the future steps Microsoft will take on security is a service pack, due out in a couple of months, for the Windows XP operating system that will have a firewall turned on by default. A similar update to Microsoft's server operating system will come later. Future versions of the Internet Explorer browser will block automatic pop-up ads and downloads without the user's permission.

Microsoft is also working on ways to block viruses and worms before computers execute their code. "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 of the behaviour-blocking initiative he called "active protection technology".

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