MS ‘defends’ its entry in security market

In an article on SearchSecurity.com, Stephen Toulouse, senior product manager for Microsoft’s Security Technology Unit, defends Microsoft’s foray into the security market and claims that it will have no impact on the life of other security vendors:

“I disagree with those who say our security moves are endangering the future of independent security vendors,” he said. “The threat landscape is always changing and I don’t agree that individual companies will go away.”

While Microsoft is doing right by getting serious about security, the company’s execs are being short-sighted if they think it won’t have an impact on a market its products helped create — not to mention Microsoft’s past history with squelching the competition (Remember Netscape?).  Rather than arguing a moot point, MS should be reminding its critics that it’s attempting to give them what they wanted in the first place — a more secure product. Regardless of how that security is built in to MS products, it’s likely to impact the vendors who built their business around securing them. Denying that is only going to make the market more suspicious of Microsoft’s motives.