Online Security: Partnership between Microsoft and Alipay

• Microsoft and the online payments specialist Alipay (Alibaba Group), have just signed a strategic letter of intent to cater for the development and distribution of security and privacy protection solutions in China.

• Their joint effort plans the use of a device health model to reduce the risk of infection. Internet users will receive warnings letting them know when they are browsing dangerous websites and making them aware of potential lacks in effective protection when trying to make online transactions.

• This service should first be deployed on Windows PCs and later on be applied to Windows Phone mobile devices.

Source: China Tech News

• Alipay carries on expanding and insists on diversifying its online services while relying on international partners for security enhancement.

• China used to be overwhelmingly affected by online fraud, and has managed to improve the security of its websites. According to a recent study by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center of China most websites have implemented standard protective measures and over 98% of merchant websites have opted for proactive solutions in 2011 (compared to 78.6% in 2009).

• This same report also notes a decrease in the number of attacks affecting governmental websites in 2011 (-39.4 % vs. 2010). These evolutions do not however prevent attacks from being carried out from abroad. As this risk increases, the legitimacy of the current detection efforts is being asserted. Also, Microsoft insists on the part to be played by preventive policies and on making sure the ecosystems implied in identification processes are healthy (detection tools, up-to-date antivirus, etc.).