Certified SecureCertified Secure

As security threats grow, the federal government is bolstering the security of its IT systems. Microsoft last week joined a small group of vendors offering certified secure software when Windows 2000 was awarded the highest level of certification for an operating system from Common Criteria, an information-security standards body established by several countries and organizations.

Microsoft spent three years and several million dollars to win the Evaluation Assurance Level 4 (EAL4) certification for Windows 2000, says Craig Mundie, Microsoft VP and chief technical officer. The effort shows Microsoft is serious about security and will help it to sell the operating system to the United States and the 15 foreign governments that support the certification, he says. However, security certification won't stop hackers from trying to find more holes in Windows. "This doesn't mean there won't be flaws or vulnerabilities," says John Pescatore, Internet security research director at Gartner. "But it's the best security certification now available."