Gtron Solutions, LLC

Microsoft anouced it will start sharing details about software vulnerabilities with security vendors ahead of Patch Tuesday. The risky new program aimed at reducing the window of exposure to hacker attacks starts October 2008.

The new Microsoft Active Protections Program (MAPP) will be formally announced at Black Hat USA 2008. It's suppose to give anti-virus, intrusion prevention/detection and corporate network security vendors a headstart to add signatures and filters to protect against Microsoft software vulnerabilities.

According to Mike Reavey, group manager in the MSRC (Microsoft Security Response Center), the new vulnerability sharing program was created to address the situation today where weaponized exploit code is being released to the public before Windows users can test and deploy the Patch Tuesday fixes.