Tech Shout!

Microsoft Corp. in Atlanta started its Security Matters - Microsoft 2006 Security Summits, a series of one-day educational events that will take place in five cities throughout the United States through the end of June.

Microsoft 2006 Security Summit is tailored for the IT professional and developer audiences, the Security Summits offers free security training and education.

Microsoft said attendees would learn about key trends in the security industry, hear from experts about how to plan for advances in security technologies, find out what Microsoft is doing to help customers address risk and build business opportunities, and participate in discussions on specific security topics.

Bret Arsenault, general manager of U.S. Enterprise Security and chief security advisor of the U.S. National Security Team at Microsoft said, “As part of our commitment to improve security for customers, Microsoft plans to provide timely, relevant and easy-to-understand security guidance to make it easier for customers to maintain a more secure business environment.”

Microsoft said that although technology exists for protecting systems, it believes that awareness and understanding of processes is key to a successful overall security strategy. Since 2003, Microsoft has provided security training to more than 2 million customers. Targeted at IT professionals and developers, the Security Summits will have a keynote address from a Microsoft security executive and three technical training tracks for attendees to choose from (two for IT professionals and one for developers), followed by a closing presentation from Microsoft.

Microsoft Security Summit 2006 attendees will have the opportunity to participate in discussions on a variety of security topics such as software updating and secure messaging as well how to create reliable and robust programs.