New Microsoft Security Shootout rewards secure code writing

Microsoft Corporation India announced an initiative called 'Security Shootout' aimed at promoting secure code writing amongst Indian developers. It is aimed at the 6,50,000-strong developer community in India and will test their skills at writing secure code by pitting them against the best in the country. 

'Security Shootout' is part of Microsoft's ongoing security mobilization efforts, under which it works closely with partners and customers to promote software security. Through this initiative, it is also making an extensive collection of security resources available to developers, such as webcasts, blogs, articles, white papers and books. The developer with the best secure coding skills will be given a customized Scorpio Passion. 

Participants in this initiative can also win over 7,500 prizes, which include Toshiba Tecra M4 laptops for the runner-ups and other prizes like Pocket PC's and 80GB USB 2.0 powered external hard disk drives. Also, the top 500 participants will get security certification vouchers, which will help them hone their code development skills over a long term. Developers have to register themselves on www.securityshootout.com before April 19, 2006.

Commenting on the contest, Sanjiv Mathur, Director—Customer and Partner Experience, Microsoft India said, “According to research conducted by Microsoft, 64% of in-house enterprise software developers agree that they lack the confidence to write secure applications. Based on these facts, it is evident that there is an urgent need to train developers on how to write secure code.” 

The Microsoft 'Security Shootout' comprises three online rounds. In the first and second round, participants will need to answer 30 questions. From the first round, the top 1,000 will move to the next stage, from which only 100 participants will be selected to battle in the final round. The finalists will then be given an application with vulnerabilities built in, that they have to identify and neutralize. 

Microsoft is making significant investments in the area of security and has initiated the Trustworthy Computing (TWC) initiative towards this. Under TWC, Microsoft is working on three specific areas. The first is technology investments, wherein it is committed to providing customers and users with the most secure products by eliminating all security vulnerabilities before a product ships. The second is Prescriptive Guidance, which involves educating and empowering people. Lastly, with industry partnerships Microsoft is working with the government and industry to evolve security laws and standards.