Microsoft Corp said yesterday it had been working on improving its network security, two days after it warned that its Windows operating system could be vulnerable to attacks by hackers.
The software giant will also unveil an upgraded Windows XP2 operating system by the end of this year, the head of the company's Taiwanese branch said yesterday.
"We launched an initiative to advance our product security in 2002, and we are still on the way toward the goal of the program," Eunice Chiu (
Microsoft on Tuesday said a critical vulnerability in its operating systems, including Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, left the systems open to attacks by hackers.
While no computers were reported to have been compromised by the security flaw so far, problems over the security of its products have haunted Microsoft for years.
With the Windows operating system prevalent, making it the favorite target for computer hackers, some notorious worms such as"Blaster," "Sobig" and, most recently, "Mydoom" have caused considerable damage worldwide and raised awareness of online security.
Microsoft has begun issuing monthly scheduled security patches for its software. But because many customers are still reluctant to apply the patches it offers on its Web site, Chiu said the company is working to reduce the defects in its systems. Windows XP2, which is scheduled to hit the market by the end of this year, is an example of the fruits of this effort, Chiu said.
This year, Microsoft Taiwan will invest NT$15 million in a talent cultivation plan, which aims foster more than 1,000 local information-technology professionals, she said. Besides providing internships to 97 college students, Microsoft has donated software and other services to 12 colleges, she said.
Microsoft reported net income of US$1.55 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31, up 19 percent from the previous quarter but down from US$1.87 billion year earlier.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by