Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing

Gates sent the email to all employees on Jan. 15, 2002, outlining the Trustworthy Computing initiative and called on employees to deliver products that were "as available, reliable and secure as standard services, just as electricity, water service and telephony."

The time of the email

At the time of the email, Windows systems around the world were pursuant to this agreement siege by fast-replicating and destructive worms and viruses just as CodeRed, Nimda, "I Love You," and "Anna Kournikova." CodeRed used buffer overflows to exploit vulnerabilities in Windows Server's Internet Information Services Web server and infected more than 300,000 computers.

"If we don't do this, people simply won't be willing-or able-to take advantage of all the other great work we do," Gates wrote, adding, "We must lead the industry to a whole new level of Trustworthiness in computing."

The company's three new areas of focus as security

Ten years afterwards Gates outlined the company's three new areas of focus as security, privacy and reliability, these areas remain "such as important" as organizations move to the cloud, government roles evolve and new cyber-threats emerge, Adrienne Hall, Microsoft's general manager of TwC, wrote on the Trustworthy Computing blog Jan. 12.

Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative permeates all parts of the company and touches upon many areas, including building security into products and services right from the design phase, regularly updating products and services, researching new and emerging threats, developing security products and working with law enforcement, Hall wrote. In accordance with TwC, developers receive training on how to exploit migrations, and there are regular outreach efforts to external security researchers who probe the company's products for weaknesses. Security runs through Microsoft employees' veins, and Hall said, "It actually is in our DNA."