New consortium links security partners working on Microsoft platform
New consortium links security partners working on Microsoft platform
Oct 07, 2005: While the Internet has provided boundless opportunities for commerce, entertainment and communication, it has also spawned a new set of criminals who continually look for new ways to abuse this resource for financial gain.
To aid in what it describes as its ongoing effort protect computer users from these threats, Microsoft has announced the creation of the SecureIT Alliance, a group of industry partners that are working together to develop security solutions for the Microsoft platform.
The SecureIT Alliance will enable security ISVs such as VeriSign, Trend Micro, Symantec and the 30 founding members to work closer with Microsoft and each other in order to more effectively and efficiently build and integrate their products for the Microsoft platform.
“Security is an industry problem,” said Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Security Business & Technology Unit. “Only the industry working together can solve threats to security. We’re reaching out to all our industry partners to create an alliance to make sure that we have a great dialogue so that both they and Microsoft can build great products. The point of the SecureIT Alliance is to work with our industry partner community to create the best solutions possible. Our customers will benefit because they’ll get better security products from a wide range of vendors. And our industry partners will benefit, too, because they’ll get better information in technical depth into integrating with our platform.”
The SecureIT Alliance is developing a community site which will launch later this year (the URL will be http://www.secureitalliance.org) and provide Alliance members with greater visibility into the various Microsoft developer programs, such as betas, software development kits, early adopter programs and development labs. The site will afford Alliance members both a portal and a community of peers for sharing the information and best practices needed to build security solutions. The site will also have a public-facing side to help customers address their security needs by accessing security-related information, including case studies, videos, presentations, white papers, best practices and product information provided by Alliance members.
Companies interested in membership in the SecureIT Alliance must develop security software and be Certified or Gold Certified Partners of the Microsoft Partner Program. Companies are required to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) so that confidential information can be shared. There is no fee to join the Alliance.
“This is the right initiative at the right time,” added Nash. “The security environment is growing more complex every day. To stay ahead of the threats and remain competitive, all of us in the industry must come together.”
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