Microsoft: Upgrade Windows For Better SecurityMicrosoft: Upgrade Windows For Better Security

Microsoft says customers need to upgrade to the latest versions of Windows to get stronger security.

Customers' continued reliance on earlier versions of Windows, rather than the current Windows 2000 and Windows XP, is slowing down efforts to secure the global computing infrastructure, chief technical officer Craig Mundie said in an address at the company's campus in Mountain View, Calif. He said it's impossible to retrofit earlier versions of Windows to make them secure.

"We're dragging around behind us a giant tail of systems that were, of course, built and deployed a long time ago," Mundie said.

He said Microsoft's goal of achieving computer security, which the company calls Trustworthy Computing, is still a long way off.

Mundie said he's concerned users will lose faith in computers because of security breaches.

Microsoft also has hired a retired U.S. Coast Guard officer to serve as its federal director of homeland security, in a bid to play a larger role in advising U.S. policy makers on IT security issues.

Thomas Richey served 20 years with the Coast Guard, and then became a policy adviser to Sen. John Kerry, D.-Mass., upon retiring in 2001. Richey advised Kerry on issues such as homeland security.

Microsoft created the position to help the government manage IT systems and ensure interoperability between them.