Microsoft has announced plans to provide certain security products free of charge, in response to recent criticism. The software giant stated that it aims to expand its suite of free security tools for customers who have expressed concerns about being charged to protect themselves from potential mistakes made by the tech company.
This decision follows a significant security breach that allegedly allowed Chinese spies to access and steal emails from senior US officials. In the aftermath of this incident, security specialists and lawmakers voiced their objections to having to pay for essential protective tools.
In a blog post, Microsoft assured that advanced features from their auditing suite, branded as Microsoft Purview, would gradually become available to all customers in the upcoming months.
While these digital auditing tools alone may not be sufficient to prevent hacks, they play a critical role in helping organizations identify intrusions into their network, ascertain the method of entry, and devise strategies to eliminate the threat.
The previous practice of charging for advanced versions of these tools faced widespread criticism, especially after the recent hack at the US State and Commerce Departments. Microsoft later admitted that the breach was due to coding flaws. Fortunately, the attack was detected when one of the victims noticed an anomaly while reviewing their digital logs.
Eric Goldstein, an official from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, emphasized the importance of providing security tools free of charge. According to him, everyone wins when these tools are accessible without cost. Charging for such tools, he stated, could lead to inadequate visibility when investigating cybersecurity incidents.
