Stories by: Joris Evers

Microsoft has postponed most of its Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB) security plan, company officials confirmed. Only a sliver of it will appear in the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, due out late next year.

The teen convicted of creating a variant of the Blaster worm won't have to pay Microsoft US$497,546.55 in restitution. He can instead work it off by doing community service.

Microsoft by midyear plans to release a test version of a new Internet Explorer (IE) browser that better protects users from scams and malicious code while surfing the Web, the company announced Tuesday.

Microsoft is looking to turn security from a "concern" into a "business asset" and "opportunity" for the company through software enhancements and management applications, the software maker's chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates said Thursday.

Microsoft Corp. is revisiting its Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB) security plan because enterprise users and software makers don't want to be forced to rewrite their code to take advantage of the technology, the company said Wednesday.

A bug hunter claims to have uncovered a security flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) 5 Web browser by studying Windows source code that was leaked last week.

A group of information security professionals has formed a "Global Council of CSOs" (chief security officers) in an effort to better address online security challenges.

Stepping up its battle against computer viruses and worms, Microsoft has established a $US5 million fund to pay rewards for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for releasing malicious code, the company said.

Microsoft warned of a critical security flaw Wednesday that affects all supported versions of its Windows operating system and could enable a remote attacker to run malicious code on unpatched Windows systems.

After three months without an executive in charge of privacy, Microsoft has found a new chief privacy strategist, the company said Monday.

Microsoft is expanding its security business unit with a group that will establish new software development processes and create tools for its programmers so that future Microsoft products will have fewer security flaws.