Tech Watch | InfoWorld Staff » MS security boss shifts to Vista

September 10, 2006 | Comments: (0)

MS security boss shifts to Vista

TAGS: Security

In yet another sign of the shifting ranks at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash. HQ, Stephen Toulouse (a.k.a "Stepto") the longtime program manager at Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) used his blog to announce, Saturday that he was moving over to focus on the security features in Windows Vista.

Toulouse has worked at MSRC for four years and was part of a team that helped revolutionize Microsoft's response to security holes in its software products.

Among other changes Stepto oversaw was a shift from sporadic product patches to a regular monthly patch cycle, the introduction of vulnerability ratings to gauge the criticality of new holes, the remake of Microsoft's security vulnerability alerts, making them more detailed and easier to understand. Toulouse was also instrumental in Microsoft's outreach to the security researcher community, including the company's increased profile at hacking shows like Black Hat, where MSRC staff were regular participants in security discussions and Redmond-sponsored fetes.

Toulouse will be focusing his energies on Vista's security features, rather than security response.

From the blog entry: "In the past 18 months, I've felt myself being pulled back towards my roots at Microsoft as more and more security features have been designed into Windows Vista. It's the perfect melding of my interests, operating systems and security. So I'm going to take new opportunity here as the product nears completion. For the next couple months I'm going to be working on Vista stuff, pre and post ship along with taking part in the broader security efforts for all our products and across the company, because it certainly doesn't stop with Vista. This is a broader role within the STU that helps with what we're doing proactively, instead of the reactive nature of security response."

Can we read the tea leaves of Toulouse's move and discern anything larger about the status of Vista or its security features? Not much, imho. Sounds like Microsoft is putting the people in place to support Vista and related products post-release, and Toulouse is a talented and proven manager with deep expertise in the security arena. Besides, MSRC is a well oiled machine at this point.

Or, as Stepto puts it, more succinctly, "four years is a long time to carry a pager." ;-)

Posted by Paul Roberts on September 10, 2006 05:23 PM

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