Microsoft products awarded high security certification
Microsoft wins a major victory as a slew of its products are certified as safe for most government and sensitive business purposes
Several Microsoft products earned new certifications after being evaluated against international security standards. The certification will make Microsoft’s products more appealing to government agencies and businesses in which there is a premium on security. The National Information Assurance Partnership, a joint venture between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Security Agency, awarded the certifications on certain configurations of Microsoft’s Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. Computer security products used by the Department of Defense, DHS, and for other national security activities must be evaluated against the standards, called Common Criteria. The evaluations examine a software product’s security functions against the manufacturer’s claims. The certifications won by Microsoft are the highest level a product can earn without specifically being designed for government use, according to Steve Lipner, senior director of security engineering strategy at Microsoft.
-read more in Benton Ives-Halperin’s CQ report (sub. req.)
