I'd like the believe this is a major change for Microsoft. And it may well be. But there's a long road ahead for them. And that road is riddled with political minefields put in place by years of previous culture.

Don't fool yourself. Microsoft's culture has not changed, even when they executed their historical 180 turn to catch the Internet. This will be a new challenge for them. And one has to wonder if they are aware of it.

And that is why I would offer that any position that involves the responsibility of this new direction will be a sucker's bet. This individual will be set up for failure. Even if they do realized what will be required to drag Microsoft in to a new infosec-aware environment, they will inevitably make internal political enemies. This will only serve to slow their efforts. Which will lead to failure. Damned if they do... or don't.

It would take someone of almost super-human reputation to wade in to this quagmire and escape untouched. Maybe Bruce would be fitting. But then, I would think he's a bit smarter than to put his chips down on that bet.

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