Gates: Security is #1 Vista Priority

On Tuesday, Microsoft bigwig Bill Gates told an audience of security experts at the RSA Security Conference 2006 that the company’s largest investment in the development of its upcoming operating system, Vista, is in security measures, InformationWeek reports.

Gates spoke of the computer industry’s need for better software that can resist cyberattacks, but is also easy to use and comprehend.  “That means a lot of invention, a lot of improvement, from where we are today,” Gates said.

At the conference, Gates displayed a number of Vista’s upcoming security features, including a capability called “network access protection” that updates corporate computers.  If a computer is found to have out-of-date antivirus or other security-related software, the feature can “quarantine” that computer, as long as the it’s running Vista and Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Server Software, code-named Longhorn, InformationWeek reports.

Another feature Gates demonstrated, the Microsoft Certificate Lifecycle Manager, is for issuing smart cards and digital certificates to employees, according to InformationWeek.  That feature began beta testing yesterday.

Gates also introduced InfoCards, or digital groupings of personal data users can employ for online transactions, InformationWeek reports.  The InfoCards contain varying amounts of information and can be used for a number of different types of transactions that require different levels of personal data.  For instance, one card could be use to access a bank’s website-it would likely contain a user ID and PIN number-and another to purchase a book from Amazon.com-that card would likely contain credit card information and the like.

The idea behind the InfoCard is that users don’t need to disclose the same amounts of personal information for all online transactions, InformationWeek reports. InfoCards can be tailored for specific transactions.

Microsoft Vista is due to for release later this year.

For more on Vista, read Vista Raises More Antitrust Issues for Microsoft, Microsoft: No Vista Beta 2, Microsoft “Vienna” Will Succeed Vista, Microsoft Releases Vista Tech For Developers and Gates Unveils Vista OS.

Don’t forget to keep checking in at our CIO News Alerts page for updated news coverage.