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Will Microsoft kill Longhorn's security?
Microsoft has become awfully quiet about its Next Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB) initiative. NGSCB is a set of new security technologies that will be part of Windows Longhorn.
The technology promised to greatly increase the level of security in Windows. But at the same time it sparked concerns about fair use and the need for hardware and software developers to adjust their products in order to profit from the new security technology.
Microsoft unveiled NGSCB, formerly codenamed Palladium, in 2002, and published a beta October 2003. Last year May, the company disclosed that it had severely watered down the programme based on user feedback. Microsoft missed a deadline for late 2004 to publish an update to the programme.
The project's website currently appears abandoned and the company won't comment on the direction the technology is taking.
The evidence that a major catastrophe has hit the NGSCB project is overwhelming. If Microsoft kills the technology and doesn't come up with a proper alternative, it sends a strong signal that it doesn't care about security, and has no intention to offer secure products to its customers.
For all that NGSCB had going against it, it did promise to offer a dramatic increase in security for the average user. It would be sad to see Microsoft make this mistake.
February 24, 2005 at 11:54 PM | Permalink
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