How secure is Microsoft?

Deploying PKI at Microsoft

This is an old posting, but I just came across it and found it really interesting. IT Showcase endeavors to publicize to the IT community how we do things at MS. In this white paper IT Showcase communicates the experience of Microsoft in deploying its own corporate PKI (Public Key Infrastructure).

Here's a quote:

Physical Security

The original PKI design that Microsoft IT created specified that the Microsoft offline root and subordinate CAs would never be connected to a network. These computers are housed in a vault that Microsoft IT controls. Without network connectivity, certificate signing and revocation are manual processes that require physical access to the vault.

Entrance into the vault requires at least two authorized people at a time, and only people who have been approved by IT Security are eligible to enter the vault. Entry into the vault is further controlled through multiple security requirements, including the combined use of building access cards, biometrics, and personal identification numbers (PINs). In addition, one of the persons entering the vault has to be one of two specifically designated employees with knowledge of the code needed to disarm the security alarm inside the vault.

Furthermore, the Microsoft Security Control Center monitors all vault entries and the alarm status. By policy, the Security Control Center needs to be notified of any vault entry and provided with the identities of the individuals making the entry. If the Security Control Center does not receive a notification, it investigates any detected entry into the vault as suspicious.

Read the white paper here https://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/msit/security/deppkiin.mspx