MS Outlook: Cloudy security

Microsoft: Customers want scripting

Microsoft officials maintain that the scripting code is a feature users desire.

"[Outlook] is definitely susceptible [to attacks], but I don’t think this was a big enough scare to have a company meeting and say we need a change,"

- Adam Miller
MyHelpdesk.com Inc

"Customers have asked Microsoft to include this functionality in its products because of the increased flexibility, customizability and extensibility scripting can provide," said Microsoft Office Product Manager Lisa Gurry via e-mail. "Every operating system is capable of running scripts, and viruses can be written for any application or platform."

Microsoft executives refused to acknowledge that Outlook was the specific target of both Melissa and ILoveYou. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates chose to make light of the situation in his N+I keynote.

"Recently I've been getting a lot of mail that says 'I love you,'" Gates joked. But he made no further references to the virus while talking about the need for users to improve their security measures.

Still, a massive overhaul of e-mail clients is unlikely in the face of the Love bug, for a variety of reasons, including a need to retrain users and heavy financial investments in Microsoft products.

"[Outlook] is definitely susceptible [to attacks], but I don’t think this was a big enough scare to have a company meeting and say we need a change," MyHelpdesk.com's Miller said.

Additional reporting by Scot Petersen and Rob O'Regan in Las Vegas