MICROSOFT INFOCARD VIRTUAL WALLET

Microsoft announces InfoCard: virtual wallet for greater security

Microsoft's obsession with security continues with chairman Bill Gates announcing their plans for the virtual wallet "InfoCard" this Tuesday. The software is a security service which would provide personal information for Internet transactions. According to the company, this latest product is miles ahead of its predecessors, the Passport service that required user identification and authentication.

Speaking at the annual RSA security conference, Gates announced that Infocard would be available with Internet Explorer 7, due to be released later this year on Windows Vista Windows XP with Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2003 and will come with a lock-in feature that rival Firefox would be unable to duplicate or match.

According to Gates, the software industry needs to combat the growing number of cyber threats while also keeping in mind that consumers would prefer user-friendly services. Microsoft's passport service had failed because users did not take to the idea of the software maker manage information. InfoCard is supposed to run independent of other programs on the desktop, thereby making it harder for hackers to infiltrate it with malicious programs.

Further, it reduces reliance on usernames and passwords, the usual targets for computer hackers. However, there is speculation about whether users will make extensive use of this feature. A lot depends on whether retailers support the infocard features and enable people to pay online through it. With Internet history showing how even the largest online payment service PayPal has not become the most popular payment method for all web users, the popularity and relevance of InfoCard will be hard to determine early on.