[link|http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/03/11/gilligan.htm|No more business as usual]

Excerpt:

SEATTLE \ufffd A top U.S. Air Force official has warned Microsoft to dramatically improve the security of its software or risk losing the Air Force as a customer. In an interview, Air Force chief information officer John Gilligan revealed he has met with senior Microsoft executives to tell them the Air Force is "raising the bar on our level of expectation" for secure software.

Since being named Air Force CIO in November, Gilligan, who controls a $6 billion-a-year technology budget, also has met with executives from Cisco Systems and delivered a similar message at a handful of industry forums. "We just can't afford the exposures, and so those who give us better solutions, that's where we're going to put our business," Gilligan says.

Gilligan, former Energy Department CIO, has discussed security most often with executives at Microsoft. "They are the biggest supplier to the Air Force, and my attempt has been to encourage them to set an example," he says.