Microsoft today announced the Secure Future Initiative, a commitment to improving the built-in security of its products and platforms to better protect customers from increasing cybersecurity threats.

If the company delivers on its promises, this significant commitment will help improve customer security, solve pressing problems, and anticipate future challenges caused by increasingly sophisticated attacks around the world. Microsoft says the initiative is a response to the alarming pace and sophistication of cyber attacks targeting organizations and individuals around the world in recent years.

“Over the past months, Microsoft has concluded that the increasing speed, scale and sophistication of cyber attacks requires a new response,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith.

“That’s why today we’re launching a new company-wide initiative to advance our next generation of cybersecurity protections, which we call the Secure Futures Initiative (SFI).”

The company’s digital crime division tracked 123 advanced ransomware-as-a-services known to encrypt or steal data to get victims to pay ransom demands.

According to this year’s Microsoft Digital Defense Report, ransomware attempts have increased by more than 200 percent since September 2022, indicating an increase in such threats. Additionally, the number of password-related attacks has also increased significantly, increasing more than tenfold compared to the corresponding period in 2022. The increase in frequency from around 3 billion events per month to an alarming 30 billion underscores the increasing threats.

Focus on secure defaults, cloud-based security, and a new federated identity system

“This new initiative will bring together all Microsoft divisions to improve cybersecurity protection,” Smith said, outlining the initiative’s core strategies.

“It will have three pillars focused on artificial intelligence-based cyber defense, advances in basic software engineering, and advocacy for stronger enforcement of international norms to protect civilians from cyber threats.”

First, the company says it will use automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to “transform” software development, aiming to deliver what it describes as “secure software by design, by default, and at deployment,” and will prioritize secure defaults. Provide users with the best protection right out of the box.