Improving Online Safety, Trust, and Confidence

Sending deceptive and spoofed e-mail that is designed to gather confidential data and personal information is called "phishing." Thieves send an e-mail or instant message that masquerades—right down to the sender's e-mail address—as a message from a reputable company. Users who take the bait could be putting money, credit rating, even identity at risk.

As one of the fastest growing forms of online threats, phishing continues to undermine user trust and confidence in the Internet. To help detect and prevent personal data theft, Microsoft has developed a dynamic, multilayer defense in its e-mail and browser technologies.

•	The first layer is defense of inbound e-mail, where upwards of 95 percent of all phishing exploits originate. Anti-phishing technologies, such as Sender ID and Microsoft SmartScreen, offer detection of phishing exploits and deceptive links. These are now built into all of Microsoft e-mail clients, services, and server products.
•	The second layer of protection is focused on the browser. Acting as an early warning system, the Microsoft Phishing Filter warns and dynamically blocks users from viewing sites that are suspected of engaging in identity and data theft. It is now offered with Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista, as well as on the Windows Live Toolbar as part of OneCare Advisor.

Spam accounts for more than 85 percent of all e-mail sent each day. To improve the delivery of legitimate e-mail, enhance people's trust and confidence in legitimate e-mail, and help the industry better manage outbound e-mail, Microsoft has developed a range of prevention, protection, and proof technologies. These have been integrated into all of the Microsoft e-mail clients, services, and server products. These include the following:

•	Sender ID Framework, an e-mail authentication protocol now approved by the IETF.
•	Microsoft SmartScreen, which filters spam before it reaches the user's inbox.
•	The Outlook 2007 E-Mail Postmark Program, which is designed to improve deliverability of personal e-mail.

Increasingly, cybercriminals are using huge networks of computers, known as botnets, to threaten consumer and business data—and the entire Internet. To create a botnet, a cybercriminal sends out a virus or worm that installs a software robot, or bot, on computers. The criminal can then remotely control these computers, known as zombies, without the computer users' knowledge.

In response to these threats, Microsoft has developed deep defenses against botnets. Some of the innovative Microsoft technologies include:

•	User Account Control in Windows Vista.
•	Protected Mode in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.
•	Sender ID, a technology included in all Microsoft e-mail servers and solutions. Sender ID helps defend against spam, which is often propagated by bots.
•	Microsoft Phishing Filter, which can detect and block suspicious Web addresses and pages. This technology is included in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Vista.
•	Microsoft Windows Defender, which protects personal computers against spyware.
•	Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, which checks computers for infections by specific malware.

Online family safety ranks as a top concern for families around the world. Parents are particularly concerned about children viewing inappropriate content and meeting strangers online. Microsoft is committed to providing a positive and safer online experience for all children and their parents.

•	Microsoft has created Family Safety Settings, a combination of safety software, guidelines, and partnerships with leading child development experts. In the United States, Family Safety Settings include tips, guidance, and age-appropriate recommendations from child development experts through the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
•	Microsoft has also incorporated a rich and powerful set of parental controls into Windows Vista. These enable parents to monitor, manage, and administer their children's computer use.
•	The Microsoft Xbox 360 video game system also includes parental controls, which parents can use to grant or restrict access to offline games and DVD movies based on game and movie ratings. Parents can also restrict access to online content and contact in the Xbox Live environment.

Sender ID continues to be the leader in e-mail authentication. It is now deployed by more than 15 million domains and accounts for more than 45 percent of all e-mail sent each day. Sender ID confirms that each e-mail message originates from the Internet domain from which it claims to have originated, thereby increasing consumer confidence in and protecting the online reputation of businesses, including financial institutions and e-commerce sites. Sender ID protects brands and domains while helping ensure the delivery of legitimate e-mail. Microsoft has created tools, white papers, and resources, including an intuitive wizard, to guide customers through the process of making their domains Sender ID compliant.

Windows Live OneCare is an easy-to-use, all-in-one service that automatically performs the tasks necessary to help secure computers and optimize their performance. These include antivirus and antispyware protection, firewall, performance tune-ups, and data backup and restore service. With ongoing updates to help protect customers against evolving threats, Windows Live OneCare also delivers automatic version and feature upgrades for as long as the customer subscribes.

Windows Live Postmaster Services provides tools and resources that can help e-mail marketers, high-volume e-mail senders, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and e-mail service providers (ESP) better control the unauthorized spam coming from their networks, reduce junk e-mail, and improve deliverability of legitimate e-mail. Together, these can help improve the reputation of a business.

Postmaster Services includes the Junk E-mail Reporting Program (JMRP), which helps senders remove unwanted recipients from their mailings and clean up their distribution lists, thereby reducing complaints. It also includes the Smart Network Data Services (SNDS), which provides senders of large volumes of e-mail with data about e-mail activity from their IP space into Windows Live Mail and Hotmail. This can help them detect and stop abusive users on their network.