Office 2007 Lock Down

Microsoft has gone to great lengths in the development process of the 2007 Office System in order to ensure that the productivity suite will move to the periphery of the threat environment. Because of the wide rate of adoption, Office has long been one of the favorite targets and vectors of attacks along the Windows platform. This is why Microsoft has aimed at an Office 2007 lock down.

The Redmond Company has taken security to the center stage of development not only for Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7 but also for Office 2007. In this context, the company revamped its security strategy for the latest release of the Office System. Because Office is a predilect target for attacks, Microsoft has moved security at the center stage of product development.

"The idea was how we could integrate security in such a way that it is not a feature, but more of a philosophy," Josh Edwards, technical product manager for Microsoft Office told vnunet, adding that the Redmond Company spared no effort to bulletproof Office 2007.

With Windows Vista touted as the most secure Windows platform available, Microsoft has also upped the stakes for Office 2007. In fact, in Microsoft's perspective, security is a common denominator between its two flagship products. The Redmond Company's success with both the Windows operating system and the Office productivity suite is at the basis of the large scale attacks directed at the two ubiquitous products.

"Every file type, every application that is broadly used, is facing the same situation right now. Office, being a commonly used application, has received a lot of that attention, and has driven a lot of the things we're doing with security," Edwards added.

Microsoft has even gone as far as to propose that security is yet another argument in favor of the internationalization of the OpenXML standard.