Microsoft's new Secure Future Initiative promises next-level cybersecurity

Microsoft announced the Secure Future Initiative, a new division that will focus on strengthening cybersecurity and pursuing new ways to deal with threats all around the world, according to the company’s latest blog post.

Secure Future Initiative will be based on three pillars that will cover all cybersecurity threats as best as possible, and it is launching on November 2, 2023, across the company, says Microsoft.

Therefore, we’re launching today across the company a new initiative to pursue our next generation of cybersecurity protection – what we’re calling our Secure Future Initiative (SFI). This new initiative will bring together every part of Microsoft to advance cybersecurity protection. It will have three pillars, focused on AI-based cyber defenses, advances in fundamental software engineering, and advocacy for stronger application of international norms to protect civilians from cyber threats.

Microsoft

It’s worth mentioning that Microsoft has been having issues with security over the years, and even if AI promised a new era for cybersecurity, the company is heavily targeted by threat actors. For example, Microsoft Teams is prone to modern malware, according to security experts, and just last year, 80% of the Microsoft 365 accounts were attacked by hackers.

Earlier this year, Tenable’s CEO accused Microsoft of not addressing a critical vulnerability in time, which sparked a backslash on the Redmond-based tech company. The vulnerability was eventually addressed in its entirety, and Microsoft vowed to come back with stronger solutions.

Secure Future Initiative: A new way to envision cybersecurity

Microsoft envisions 3 pillars with Secure Future Initiative. These pillars are meant to strengthen security all around by using AI, developing new ways to protect people from malware and other attacks, and educating them on the effects of cyberattacks and protection against them.

In other words, according to Microsoft, these are the three pillars Secure Future Initiative is based on:

1. AI-based cybersecurity: Microsoft will make use of AI to enhance protection all around, providing much faster protection against all threats, even if they’re well hidden.
2. New technological advances in cybersecurity: Microsoft plans to release AI features to enhance protection, a plethora of new ways of authentication, and stronger cloud security in the future.
3. Stronger application of international norms: For cybersecurity to work efficiently, all countries should implement the same kind of protection and work together to reduce their impact, and Microsoft promises to ask and propose new practices for it.

What do you think about the new Secure Future Initiative?