As a security guy, I get all sorts of questions from people about privacy. A lot of folks really think about online privacy as the same thing as computer security. Others see it as a pure tradeoff between one or the other. I don’t necessarily think that giving up privacy results in greater security; nor do I believe that greater security requires a loss of privacy. No matter what your thoughts are on security and privacy, I hope there is one thing we can all agree on: both are important.
That’s why I’m glad to report that Microsoft, along with other key players in the safety ecosystem, is once again participating in today’s global event, Data Privacy Day. A lot of you have probably never heard of Data Privacy Day, so here’s the skinny: it is a day intended to increase awareness of privacy and data protection issues that we all face. I’m proud of Microsoft’s commitment to protecting consumer privacy, and on a personal level, I’m happy to have been involved in campaigns promoting child safety and preventing identity theft.
I’m also proud of our work on Windows Vista. It’s built and tested to allow users to connect to whomever and whatever they want while providing the confidence that personal information is safe. The Windows Security Center in Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista is one of the innovative tools that helps protects users from security risks. The program informs users if key security capabilities are turned on and updated and if a problem is detected, customers receive a notification and are given recommended actions to help protect their information. IE Protected Mode in Windows Vista also helps protect users from attack by running the Internet Explorer process with greatly restricted privileges. Protected Mode significantly reduces the ability of an attack to write, alter, or destroy data on the user's machine or to install malicious code. These are just a few of the ways that Microsoft is working to keep its customers safe. We are also continuing our commitment to security in Windows 7 by building upon the strong foundation created in Windows Vista.
Like me, many of us at Microsoft are passionate about helping to ensure that you have the safest, most secure computing experience possible. If you’re passionate about online safety or if you just want to learn more about the topic, check out the Data Privacy Day 2009 website to see how we’re working to raise awareness about online privacy and safety issues.