In the flurry of news reports that have circulated this week about tech companies being asked to unlock devices to provide access to the personal data of potential terrorists, differing viewpoints on the accessibility of personal online information have arisen.
Some of the biggest technology brands in the world and governments are weighing in on the discussion, and a final way forward has not yet been agreed on.
In the midst of it all, the key question that has probably made most of us who own a smartphone, a laptop, or do any business in the cloud ask ourselves is this: Just how safe is my information in the cloud?
Microsoft, the company where I work as Legal Counsel – is addressing this issue head on every day. Most people might think that Microsoft is primarily a software company, but they may not know about our global role as one of the most active companies in the area of cyber security.
Alongside the reality that much of the world operates on Microsoft platforms comes the added responsibility of making sure that our security is the toughest in the world. It is why security measures are built into the very same code of our platform and operating systems, and the design and operations of our cloud services – not bolted on as an afterthought like a third party anti-virus software programme.
In a world with ever increasing mobility made available by the cloud, employees are working on corporate applications and accessing sensitive data from both on-premise and cloud-based systems using every type of device from laptops to BYO mobile devices to machines with Internet-of-Things sensors.
While there is certainly increasing benefit apparent from having technologies connected in such a way, there is a corresponding growth in risk as businesses increase their exposure to cyber security threats as they increase their online presence.
However, considering the $1B investment that has been made by Microsoft to build security measures into every aspect of our products, services, and our and data centres, the reality today is that the cloud has become the more secure option than storing information in an on-premises setting.
No company has the reach into businesses on the scale that Microsoft’s products and services like Windows and Office do, so we have a unique perspective and responsibility on what is happening in those businesses.
Microsoft’s unique insights into the threat landscape, informed by trillions of signals from billions of sources, create an intelligent security graph that we use to inform how we protect all users’ devices and data and get better at detecting attacks and accelerating response.
The Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit is a great example of this. Working out of our Redmond headquarters in the US, we have a team of more than 100 detectives, lawyers, and cyber forensics analysts working with Interpol, Europol and law enforcement around the world to combat cybercrime. Over the last year, the Digital Crimes Unit has been successful in limiting the damage caused by Dorkbot, Simbda, Ramnet and other botnets.
We provide real time threat analysis of cybercrime as it is happening to our customers and government partners, made possible using the scale and intelligence of the cloud.
This last point is perhaps the most critical. Businesses need to share the load and work with governments to ensure that responses to increasingly organised and sophisticated cyber-criminal activity is fast and effective. No company or government can fight cybercrime alone. Microsoft New Zealand has always been a strong partner to the New Zealand government in this fight and, as a Connect Smart Partner (www.connectsmart.govt.nz), strongly supports the latest National Cyber Security Strategy.
Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, has said that “Businesses and users are going to embrace technology only if they can trust it.” At Microsoft, we are serious about our commitment to protect customers in a cloud first world.
Michael Brick
Legal Counsel & Corporate Affairs Director, Microsoft New Zealand