DALLAS, June 3, 2003 — Today at Microsoft®
Tech•Ed, Scott Charney, chief trustworthy computing strategist at Microsoft Corp., announced several new security initiatives that continue the company’s efforts to make Trustworthy Computing a reality for computer users everywhere. In his keynote presentation, Charney also addressed the efforts Microsoft is making to improve the security, privacy and reliability of its products and services, and highlighted steps enterprises can take to help them become and stay secure.
“Microsoft is beginning to make real progress in Trustworthy Computing on behalf of our customers and partners, particularly in the way we think about, design and develop our products and services to be more secure, reliable and privacy-compliant from the start,”
Charney said.
“Although much work remains to be done, we are delivering tools and resources so customers and partners can successfully manage their networks for optimum security in deployment.”
During his keynote speech, Charney and Nico Popp, vice president of product development in the Security Services Division at VeriSign Inc., announced plans to develop several security initiatives for enterprise customers. These initiatives include public key infrastructure (PKI) autoenrollment of VeriSign certificates, interoperability of certificate authorities and secure mobile access, all of which would be built on the Microsoft Windows Server (TM) 2003 PKI platform. More information on these plans can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/jun03/06-03TechEdMSVeriSignPR.asp .
Charney, together with Lutz Ziob, general manager of Training and Certification at Microsoft, also announced the availability of a new security certification program for system administrators and systems engineers. These specializations provide information technology (IT) professionals with the specific and in-demand skills they need to perform critical security functions.
The new MCSA: Security and MCSE: Security certifications validate in-depth technical skills and are built on the industry-recognized Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) credentials. Both certifications are specific to Windows®
2000 and are available immediately. Certifications for the Windows Server 2003 platform will be available later in the year as the platform-specific exams become available.
“As our customers accelerate their deployments of Internet business solutions, they need qualified network professionals who possess the knowledge and experience to help ensure platform security,”
Ziob said.
“Helping the next generation of IT professionals build crucial security skills through a clearly defined path of learning resources, training options and certifications is a decisive step toward meeting our customers’ demand for building a secure computing environment.”
To earn one of the new security certifications, candidates will be required to pass core exams for the MCSE or MCSA credentials, and then pass a number of security specialization exams to demonstrate their ability in key areas such as security foundations, security implementation and security design. One of these specialization exams is CompTIA Security+, which is an industry-recognized standard of competency for foundation-level security practitioners. Security+ was developed by a panel of leading security experts from academia, government and industry, including Microsoft. More details on the CompTIA Security+ credential can be found at http://www.comptia.org/certification/security/ . More details on the MCSA: Security and MCSE: Security certifications can be found online at http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/ .
About Microsoft Tech•Ed 2003
Tech•Ed, one of Microsoft’s premier developer training events, which reaches more than 75,000 people worldwide annually, provides attendees with access to technical experts, the latest technical information, and hands-on labs to learn the skills they need to build state-of-the-art solutions. Sponsors of Tech•Ed 2003 include Dell, HP, IBM Corp. and VERITAS Software Corp.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
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