Microsoft was definitely ahead of the curve when it came to security. With the high-profile issues that plagued the early releases of Windows, the company knew that they had to focus on security so created the concept of "Trustworthy Computing" back in 2002. To announce this new initiative, Bill Gates sent an email out to all of his employees, stating:
What I mean by this is that customers will always be able to rely on these systems to be available and to secure their information. Trustworthy Computing is computing that is as available, reliable and secure as electricity, water services and telephony.
Times change, and so Microsoft is now reorganizing security within the company. On Friday, Net Security reported that Microsoft has disbanded the Trustworthy Computing group and will migrate those functions throughout the company. The main responsibility will apparently fall to either the Cloud and Enterprise Division or the Legal and Corporate Affairs team, while the actual engineering will be put into individual teams. The change has yet to be publicly announced.
There"s no question that the TwC initiative helped to greatly improve security within Microsoft. Today, Windows is an extremely secure operating system with most vulnerabilities occurring at the application layer. Microsoft took a leadership role in improving security and the results are clear.
With the focus shifting away from desktops and into the cloud, the traditional concept of Trustworthy Computing is losing its appeal. Security is obviously still going to be a mainstay within Microsoft, and this change should help streamline the process and put the actual engineering closer to the individual problems.
Source: Net Security