Linux Online - Microsoft's new deal with Uncle Sam

Microsoft's new deal with Uncle Sam


		Date:	Sep 16 2002

On Wednesday, the Bush administration is scheduled to publish its proposal to increase the security of the Internet. Properly titled the "National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace," it's said to talk with great earnestness about helping home users safeguard their computers, about thwarting online intrusions into business systems, and about providing better training to federal network administrators.

But, according to people familiar with the draft report, it pays scant attention to Microsoft, which has been responsible for more online security woes than any other company in history.

One explanation for the draft report's marked silence is that there is an unusually close relationship between Microsoft and the White House. Howard Schmidt, vice chairman of the White House's National Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, once worked at the Air Force and then became Microsoft's chief security officer. Schmidt's group, headed by "cybersecurity czar" Richard Clarke, is responsible for preparing this week's report. Scott Charney, Microsoft's current security officer, is another former federal official