In January, 2002, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates declared security to be the new top priority at the world's biggest software maker. In a speech to employees and in a public statement, he declared war on bugs and vowed to shore up product security. Of course, the bugs keep popping up, and serious security vulnerabilities continue to be exploited in Microsoft's ubiquitous operating system and applications. Witness the horrific MSBlaster worm that crashed untold thousands of Windows 2000 and XP machines worldwide during the week of Aug. 11.
So how's this for a delicious irony: Microsoft (MSFT ) now appears to be targeting security software products as a new growth opportunity. That's an area where the Colossus of Redmond has previously shown only faint interest, but now savvy observers say the giant is locking in on it.
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