Posted by Vinny Gullotto
General Manager, Microsoft Malware Protection Center

Today’s release of Microsoft’s Security Intelligence Report volume 10 is our most comprehensive global threat report to date, with in-depth regional threat intelligence for 117 countries from more than 600 million machines worldwide. The report highlights a polarization of cybercriminal behavior and an increasing trend of cybercriminals using “marketing-like” approaches and deception methods to target consumers.

Since 2006, we have released 10 volumes of the Security Intelligence Report, providing customers with unparalleled insight into the software threat landscape and guidance to better protect themselves. The threat landscape has changed significantly during those years with advancements in security and privacy technology and general awareness of cybercrime.

Posted by Frank McCosker
Managing Director, Microsoft Global Strategic Accounts

This week, I’m in Seattle attending the World Customs Organization’s annual IT Conference and Exhibition alongside more than 500 other delegates, helping Microsoft display the next generation of technology applications to help countries and companies realize the full benefits of international trade. This year’s conference theme is cloud computing, a technology we expect to revolutionize trade and customs operations.

This is a particularly timely theme, with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and representatives from the governments of Botswana and Namibia announcing at the event the Trans-Kalahari Corridor Regional Single Window (RSW). To be built on Microsoft technology, this will be the first cloud computing-based trade application to link, for the first time, customs processes between the governments of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.

Posted by Andy Lees
President, Mobile Communications Business, Microsoft

Many consumers and policymakers are asking important questions about how today’s phones are collecting and using information about a phone user’s location. The discussion has intensified over the past few weeks when the practices of two other companies in the mobile market were called into question. As a result, several members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to a number of companies that provide mobile phone services seeking clarity on this issue.

We at Microsoft believe this is an important discussion to have. To that end, below, I’ve included what we’ve shared with Congress about the ways Microsoft has taken privacy into account proactively with Windows Phone 7. (You can also find a copy of our response here.)

Posted by Jacqueline Beauchere
Director, Trustworthy Computing Communications, Microsoft

A new study released by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and sponsored by Microsoft, shows that U.S. schools are ill-equipped to teach children the fundamentals of 21st Century “Digital Citizenship.” The 2011 version of the State of Cyberethics, Cybersafety and Cybersecurity Curriculum in the U.S. found that more than one-third (36 percent) of teachers received no relevant professional development training in the last year from their school districts. Meanwhile, 86 percent received fewer than six hours of training in online safety, computer security and cyber ethics.

Not surprisingly, teachers do not feel adequately prepared to instruct on these topics. Less than one-quarter of respondents (24 percent) said they feel "very well-prepared" to teach about protecting personal information online.

Posted by Fred Humphries
Vice President, U.S. Government Affairs, Microsoft

There is little dispute about the rapidly growing demand for wireless broadband connectivity and the strain it places on wireless networks. Policymakers can help to find more spectrum to enable the many devices consumers use to connect to the Internet and to each other. To help industry keep pace with consumer demand, policymakers must act quickly to adopt incentive auction policies, drive the deployment of smart radio technology and facilitate more unlicensed spectrum use including use of the “TV white spaces”.

Consumer demand for wireless broadband connectivity is rapidly growing. In a Staff Technical Working Paper, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reported an increase of more than 450 percent in the amount of mobile data consumers used per mobile line between the first quarter of 2009 and the second quarter of 2010, and projected demand to grow to between 25 and 50 times current levels within five years. At the same time, consumers and network operators increasingly use unlicensed spectrum technologies to access wireless broadband. Mobile data offloaded to Wi-Fi hot spots from the networks of mobile operators is expected to reach almost 90 percent by 2015.