Microsoft has opened what it says is its first combined Transparency Center and Cybersecurity Center in Singapore to serve the Asia-Pacific region.
The company said the facility would be the first to bring together Microsoft capabilities in a single location in Asia-Pacific 'to deliver a holistic approach to serving the security needs of both the public and private sector and building a trusted and secure computing environment, a critical enabler for digital transformation.'
Microsoft describes its Transparency Center initiative as a cornerstone of its long-standing Government Security Program (GSP), which 'offers participating government agencies the opportunity to review the source code of Microsoft products, access information on cyber security threats and vulnerabilities, and benefit from the expertise and insight of Microsoft security professionals.'
Almost 40 countries and international organizations currently participate in the Microsoft GSP program, including 10 from Asia-Pacific.
The new center will be part of a global network that covers four regions, joining existing facilities in Redmond, Washington, for North America, and Brussels for Europe, and the new Transparency Center in Beijing, announced on 16 September.
Toni Townes-Whitley, corporate vice-president of Microsoft's Worldwide Public Sector, said: 'Public-private partnerships are key to strengthening national cyber security. The opening of the Microsoft regional Transparency Center in Singapore to serve the wider Asia-Pacific region advances our worldwide commitment to drive transparency, security and trust in digital technologies in the mobile-first and cloud-first world.'
The Microsoft Cyber security Center in Singapore, co-located with the Transparency Center, will enable enterprises and organizations to tap into a pool of resources such as security specialists and technologies at Microsoft.
Microsoft said it would 'bring forth innovations and advancements by way of security platform, threat intelligence analytics, advanced threat protection, machine learning capabilities, security services and cloud security in a comprehensive way.'
Microsoft said the Transparency Center and Cybersecurity Center would expand its public private partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region and enable enterprises to manage modern security threats effectively.
'This will build on the momentum in the last few years, where the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) has fostered various partnerships with public sector and enforcement agencies in the region,' Microsoft said.
'This includes strategic collaboration with Interpol in global malware botnet disruption operations and a Photon licensing collaboration to support Interpol's efforts in preventing child sexual exploitation online, as well as cyber threat intelligence sharing partnerships with several Internet service providers in the region and government Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs).'
