There are two primary concerns for governments and organisations in Australia when considering taking advantage of Cloud Computing. #1: Security, #2: Data Sovereignty.  While these are legitimate concerns, they are largely misunderstood and surrounded...

If you are in Canberra on Thursday June 9, and are interested in the Architecture space, we have an event coming up in our office to show you how to get from hearing about Cloud, to actually deploying applications that take advantage of Cloud Computing...

These three titles have been released on MSDN for free, or you can purchase a hard copy or eBook as well. Great references for Windows Azure development A Guide to Claims–based Identity and Access Control http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff423674...

I’ve often been a proponent of thinking of Cloud based computing as a security layer between you and the bad guys. It seems the US Department of Defense agrees with me. http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2011/03/cyber_command_shifting_to_the_cloud.php Now...

My good friend and Windows Phone Evangelist Dave Glover gave a presentation to some of our partners about what makes great phone apps.  He listed the 10 criteria we use for deciding where on the scale from Average, to Good, to Great an app would...

Recently there has been a video doing the rounds from YouTube on how smartphone pictures can be a privacy risk . It’s no joke. Most smart phones, have GeoTagging turned on by default for photos that you take with the phone’s camera. What this does is...

In response to the Australian National Audit Office report ' The Protection and Security of Electronic Information Held by Australian Government Agencies ' many government agencies are talking about blocking access to web based email.  Here’s the...

One of the key aspects to secure cloud hybrid applications is a secure connection from the cloud based services to the on premise base ones. With Windows Azure this is quite easy. You can use Windows Azure Connect to establish a secure IPV6/IPSec based...

The idea of Open Government and Gov 2.0 is not a new one. However it seems that while governments are making great strides toward a more open system through efforts such as Data.gov and Data.gov.au , there appears to be a bit of a disconnect between publication...

As I mentioned in a post a bit earlier, Digital Society is more than Facebook . To enable a truly digital society there are 4 major areas that industry and government need to enable. These four key areas, from my view, are naturally focused on people...

A successful event, announcement, product launch, or campaign depends on real connections with people. When you can’t be everywhere, use Microsoft TownHall to engage with your target audience online: Scale your communication, aggregate feedback, and gain...

Gove 2.0 to Gov 2.1 (Gov 3.0) It’s interesting to note how governments are rallying around the idea of Gov 2.0 where social networking becomes part of how governments interact with their citizens.  And now, when the ink is just drying on some of...

Yesterday the Windows Azure Platform evangelism team completed another release of the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit.   The Windows Azure Platform Training Kit includes hands-on labs, presentations, and samples to help you understand how...

Today, we are announcing the launch of Dev Unplugged , a contest that challenges web developers to push the limits of a modern browser without the use of plug-ins. We believe that HTML5 and related technologies, in conjunction with faster and faster browsers...

I was checking out some of the apps on the Windows Phone marketplace. I came across this gem and realised that it has just been released. It’s called Getmusic . (Getmusic web site: http://www.getmusic.com.au/ ) It’s a music player / service where not...

Hello everyone, As most of you probably know by now I’ve taken on a new role in the company. I am now working with the DPE team as an Architect Advisor and bringing my security background to our Cloud Services offerings and Windows Phone 7 platform. ...

The Microsoft Solution Accelerators team is pleased to announce the release of new resources that you can use in combination with the Microsoft Security Compliance Manager tool: the Windows Server 2008 R2 Security Baseline and the Office 2010 Security...

Today Microsoft and Telstra announced the launch of the Telstra Windows Phone 7 Social Review, a competition for social media-savvy consumers to win the opportunity to receive and review the new Windows Phone 7 handset, the HTC 7 Mozart.   Twenty...

The latest SIR is available now from Microsoft. You can find it here: http://www.microsoft.com/security/sir/default.aspx   Industry wide vulnerabilities continue their downward trend . However High Complexity vulnerabilities rose a bit ( http://www...

We’ve been talking about the Cloud for a long time. In fact Bill Gates talked about Microsoft’s commitment to it in 2002 in one of his keynotes so it’s nothing new to Microsoft. We’ve been providing Cloud based services quietly for about 15 years now...

Do you have a passion for securing software systems? Are you an expert in the field of software security? Are you persuasive? Would you like the challenge of finding and delivering best of industry consulting in software security? Can you generate business...

  Virtual Machine Servicing Tool (VMST) 3.0 – Now Available! The increasing use of virtual machines—for purposes ranging from support of older operating system environments to power savings—has created new challenges for IT. In particular, virtual...

Well we’re getting the schedule ironed out. My sessions are listed below. You WILL come to them won’t you!   SEC402 Federated Identity in the Cloud Wednesday, August 25  13:45 - 15:00 Rocky Heckman Does this sound like you: You want to provide...

Well it’s almost time for Tech Ed Australia again. I’m busy prepping sessions and getting excited. After two years of putting everyone in the track but myself, I’m back in it. Two sessions this year, Federated Identity in the Cloud and Hacking: Top 5...

I'm a Windows Live Writer fan by habit. It works well and does everything I need. But now that I'm on Office 2010 , I want to see how well OneNote works. I use OneNote a lot at work and for client meetings. It's great for any research and interviews...