REDMOND, Wash., April 25, 2005 – While technology to help protect systems is readily available, businesses have determined that awareness and understanding of processes is equally important when formulating an effective security strategy. Earlier this month, Microsoft kicked off its Security Matters-Security Summits, a series of no-charge, one-day educational events to help IT professionals and developers connect those two often different elements of an overall security strategy. Today Microsoft is hosting the second summit in Dallas, where Scott Charney, vice president of Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft, will deliver the keynote address. The events will also take place in New York, Chicago and Detroit through June. Attendees will learn about information on key trends in the security industry and hear from experts about how to prepare for the future.
The first summit, held April 13 in Atlanta, involved 18 Microsoft business partners, including Liquid Machines, Avanade and RSA Security. Partners hosted booths in an expo hall and were available to discuss security solutions and strategies with attendees. Microsoft security experts who delivered presentations at the summit include Steve Riley, senior security strategist, Talhah Mir, security technologist, and Roderick O’Connor, technology specialist, IT Infrastructure.
“These summits are a key part of Microsoft’s strategy to educate IT professionals and developers and provide them with valuable security information that they can put into effect immediately for the organizations they serve,” says Bret Arsenault, general manager of U.S. Enterprise Security and chief security advisor of the U.S. National Security Team at Microsoft, who delivered the keynote at the Security Summit in Atlanta. “Microsoft is committed to helping make it easier for customers to maintain a more secure business environment through technology investments, guidance, and training. The Security Summits are an ideal avenue for customers to learn how they can prepare for advances on the horizon in the ever-evolving security technology industry.”
During his keynote, Arsenault detailed Microsoft’s vision for a more secure future, and explained the company’s efforts to improve security through technology investments, prescriptive guidance, and industry partnerships. He also detailed Microsoft’s security technology strategy, which is aligned around three core pillars: 1) Fundamentals; 2) Threat and Vulnerability Mitigation; 3) Identity and Access Control. The strategy has been developed in response to the top security challenges faced by organizations today, including the need to reduce the frequency of security updates and the ability to roll out security updates efficiently; implement defense-in-depth measures; manage access in an extended enterprise, and receive better guidance for secure systems.
Provided at no charge, Microsoft’s Security Matters-Security Summits serve as a venue for IT professionals and developers to learn about key trends in the security industry, learn what Microsoft is doing to help customers address risk and build business opportunities, and participate in discussions on specific security topics.
Each event includes a keynote address delivered by a Microsoft executive, three technical tracks to choose from – two for IT professionals, one for developers – and a closing presentation from Microsoft about security in Microsoft Windows Vista. The track for IT professionals focuses on best practices for topics including identity and access management, software updating, security controls, secure messaging, implementing security for wireless networks and incident response. The IT professional track also provides guidance on specific Microsoft security technologies, including Network Access Protection, Rights Management Services and Microsoft Client Protection.
The track for developers is focused on application development principles and best practices. In this track, developers will learn about best practices from Microsoft’s Security Development Lifecycle, which has improved security of Microsoft’s products. Participants in the developer track will also learn how to create more reliable and secure applications for their organizations with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005. The developer track will also feature discussions on Microsoft Windows Vista, 2007 Microsoft Office System, and Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.
For more information or to register for an event, visit https://www.ustechsregister.com/securitymatters.
To hear an interview with Bret Arsenault, who delivered the keynote at the summit in Atlanta, visit Microsoft TechNet Radio www.microsoft.com/tnradio.
