For Microsoft's part, it says the new security strategy is a layered approach starting with Active Directory and its ability to manage identities and credentials and to integrate with the cloud via Geneva when it ships near the end of this year.

The layer on top of Active Directory includes policies and privileges that extend to the edge of the network and are managed by ILM.

On top of that is the protection layer that includes among other tools anti-virus and anti-malware capabilities housed in the Forefront products.

The last piece is Stirling, which ensures all the tiers are integrated and combined with security assessment data from third-party products.

"Customers are asking us to protect everywhere and access anywhere," says JG Chirapurath, director of the identity and security business group at Microsoft. "The protection is across multiple layers and on cloud, physical or virtual platforms."