Microsoft is moving its botnet protection group to the cloud to provide near real-time information about known malware infections starting to surface. Microsoft is making the new program available to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and computer emergency response teams (CERT) who are responsible for monitoring malware and other threats in their organizations.

The new Cyber Threat Intelligence Program (C-TIP) will replace Project MARS (Microsoft Active Response for Security), which launched in 2010. Project MARS provided periodic email updates to ISPs and CERTs. With C-TIP, the network monitors the data and its abnormalities to detect and thwart malware threats spread by botnets.

Here’s the thing, Microsoft makes a big deal about protecting software from attackers who turn computers into a bot that the criminals can control and do malicious deeds.  TJ Campana, director of security for the Microsoft Digital Crime Unit (sounds kind of like something you would hear about in a TV crime drama ), said that, all too often, a malicious attack is an issue about people not updating their software.

No software updates — hmm…isn’t that the upside to the cloud?

This is news to keep old systems safe with new cloud infrastructure. It’s a legacy problem being addressed by the vast data-computing and analytics capabilities that come with the cloud.

But the real, more modern issue is not the desktop PC getting attacked. It’s the mobile device and how to protect it from the growing threat posed by cyber criminals.

Tens of millions of people use Microsoft software. Security has traditionally meant drawing a perimeter around the enterprise to keep software and its computers safe.

What people need are healthy practices and preventative measures to keep their data safe. This effort helps  protect the masses, but the new war is not on a desktop. It’s in the cloud and the billions of devices where the data flows.

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