As another round of computer worms attacked PCs around the world yesterday, scientists in Microsoft's advanced research division demonstrated a possible solution. The prototype technology is called Shield because it basically installs a shield over vulnerabilities found in software, temporarily protecting the systems until a permanent security patch is developed. "We think this should be part of the process of defending against vulnerabilities," said Helen Wang, a researcher in Redmond developing the technology with counterparts at Microsoft labs in Beijing and Cambridge, England.
Shield and a handful of security technologies were among hundreds of research projects on display at the fourth annual "TechFest," a megascience fair held by Microsoft Research on the company campus. The closed event is intended to expose research done in company labs to product teams and encourage them to collaborate. Microsoft expects 5,000 employees from Chief Software Architect Bill Gates on down to attend the two-day event. TechFest also shows off the range of interests of the world's largest software company, which is using some of its resources to explore how tomorrow's computers will be used, developed and connected.
News source: The Seattle Times
