FBI veteran to secure Microsoft

Experts have welcomed Microsoft's appointment of 20-year FBI veteran Ed Gibson as chief security advisor in the UK, but warned he will face an uphill struggle to repair Microsoft's battered reputation.

Bob Tarzey of analyst Quocirca said Gibson's experience of tackling money laundering, intellectual property theft, fraud and high-tech crime, coupled with being a regular speaker at UK security events, would lend credibility to Microsoft's security efforts. But he added that Gibson would have his work cut out to change users' perceptions that Microsoft systems are rife with flaws.

"The biggest problem Gibson faces is the lag between perception and reality," Tarzey said. "Microsoft has made big improvements in security over the past few years with its Trustworthy Computing initiative, but is still often seen as having problems."

Gibson will also have a tough balancing act to ensure Microsoft is not seen to be profiting from security vulnerabilities that encourage customers to upgrade.

David Bradshaw of analyst firm Ovum said Gibson should try to improve Microsoft's image by creating clearly articulated security principles in customer-friendly terms.

Gibson will take up his new position in July. He succeeds Stuart Okin who moved to Accenture in October 2004; since then Microsoft's security activities have been covered by head of platform strategy Nicholas McGrath.

Separately, the Home Office said it has reached an agreement to buy Microsoft software that will "save the department and the wider criminal justice community over £8.4m". The deal is another result of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Memo of Understanding with Microsoft.

Microsoft has also posted new beta-test versions of the new Avalon presentation layer and Indigo communications components that were originally intended to be mainstays of Longhorn, the codename for the next major release of Windows for desktops and servers. The releases, available via the URL below, support new technologies including InfoCard authentication, Metro document publishing and a speech API.

See also:

Microsoft reassuring a concerned channel

Giant claims expansion of enterprise direct salesforce will not affect partners  06 Jun 2005

Web services promise new security headaches

Perimeter security no longer enough  26 Apr 2005

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