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.
AI REVOLUTION: The event is to take place from Wednesday to Friday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s halls 1 and 2 and would feature more than 1,100 exhibitors Semicon Taiwan, an annual international semiconductor exhibition, would bring leaders from the world’s top technology firms to Taipei this year, the event organizer said. The CEO Summit is to feature nine global leaders from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), Applied Materials Inc, Google, Samsung Electronics Co, SK Hynix Inc, Microsoft Corp, Interuniversity Microelectronic Centre and Marvell Technology Group Ltd, SEMI said in a news release last week. The top executives would delve into how semiconductors are positioned as the driving force behind global technological innovation amid the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, the organizer said. Among them,
Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips should spur growth for the semiconductor industry over the next few years, the CEO of a major supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said, dismissing concerns that investors had misjudged the pace and extent of spending on AI. While the global chip market has grown about 8 percent annually over the past 20 years, AI semiconductors should grow at a much higher rate going forward, Scientech Corp (辛耘) chief executive officer Hsu Ming-chi (許明琪) told Bloomberg Television. “This booming of the AI industry has just begun,” Hsu said. “For the most prominent
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Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said Taiwan’s government plans to set up a business service company in Kyushu, Japan, to help Taiwanese companies operating there. “The company will follow the one-stop service model similar to the science parks we have in Taiwan,” Kuo said. “As each prefecture is providing different conditions, we will establish a new company providing services and helping Taiwanese companies swiftly settle in Japan.” Kuo did not specify the exact location of the planned company but said it would not be in Kumamoto, the Kyushu prefecture in which Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC, 台積電) has a
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