Security & Internet Safety: Overview by microsoft

Overview
While information and communications technology (ICT) has created previously unimagined opportunities for millions of people worldwide, it has also provided new tools for criminals. As a leader in the industry that is creating so many benefits, Microsoft also shares responsibility for stopping technology abuses that enable crimes against consumers and businesses. We will continue to collaborate with governments, law enforcement officials, and other industry leaders to develop solutions to these problems.

Public policy is also critical to shaping the Internet's future. We will continue to work with government officials and other stakeholders to advance public policies that improve economic and social well-being, deter criminal activity, and enable people to realize their full potential.

The Internet is fostering some of the fastest technological, social, and economic changes in history. Since coming into widespread use in the mid-1990s, it has evolved rapidly into a global network, connecting many of the world's personal computers and an increasing number of mobile phones and other devices.

Today, more than 800 million people routinely use the Internet, more than twice the number of people who were online four years ago and nearly 50 times the number that were online in 1995. Reliable data on global e-commerce is difficult to come by, but some experts estimate that online trade will grow to nearly $13 trillion by 2006. Government institutions, businesses large and small, and nongovernmental organizations all depend on the Internet to some degree.

That reliance will only grow with time. As a developer of leading Internet technologies and a producer of mass-market software programs, Microsoft has helped, and will continue to help, drive the Internet revolution. Given this role, we understand that we have a corresponding obligation to help address the challenges of this new information-based society.

As in other periods of rapid, technology-driven change, safety issues have arisen quickly. Junk e-mail, more commonly known as spam, has become pervasive. Criminals impersonate legitimate companies to perpetrate identity theft. Child predators prey upon unsuspecting minors and remain undetected by adults. Viruses and malicious software are becoming increasingly potent and sophisticated. And the global nature of the Internet means that harm can be inflicted across international borders and on a massive scale.