Microsoft Zune is a portable media player you can use to take your music and videos anywhere.

Zune is a great product for kids, because it has built-in family safety settings that can help parents have a say in what kind of content their kids can download.

Zune also offers a community called Zune Social. If you're a parent, you can find out all about it before you give your kids permission to join it.

To learn more about how families can use Zune more safely, see:

• 8 safety tips for using Zune Social
• Manage family safety settings for Zune

Microsoft invites you to join the dialogue about how to create a more trusted Internet.

In April, Microsoft began asking all who care about the Internet to join in a discussion about how to enhance security and privacy online. This initiative is known as End to End Trust.

End to End Trust is a Microsoft-hosted online discussion forum to delve into questions such as:

• How should we enhance security on the Internet without undermining social values, such as privacy and anonymity?
• How do we, and how should we, build a trusted stack that enables a safer, more trusted Internet?
• How do we create economic incentives to drive a more secure, and privacy-enabled Internet?

To learn more, download the End to End Trust white paper by Scott Charney.

Join the discussion.

To post in the forum, you can sign in with your Windows Live ID, or, if you prefer to enter the discussion anonymously, you can do so by simply logging in with the following credentials:

·         User: [email protected]

·         Password: saferint.

Microsoft released the newest Security Intelligence Report (SIR), which focuses on trends in malicious software and other computer threats in the second half of 2007.

Purveyors of viruses, spyware, and other malicious software are increasingly motivated by financial gain, the report shows, among other findings.

The report uses data collected from several hundred million Windows users and some of the busiest online services on the Internet.

Visit the Microsoft Malware Protection Center SIR portal to download the full report and Key Findings Summary.

They don't wear superhero capes or masks, but the Internet Safety Enforcement Team at Microsoft works hard to make the Internet a safer place for you and your family.

The Internet Safety Enforcement Team is a group of nearly three dozen former prosecutors, investigators, software engineers, and business professionals who work together to deter cybercrime.

"We offer what we do best—technology—to help law enforcement do what they do best: investigate and prosecute crimes, " says Tim Cranton, Associate General Counsel, Microsoft Worldwide Internet Safety.

The Internet Safety Enforcement team is not only focused on stopping spam or e-mail phishing scams. Cranton says, "We understand from our law enforcement partners, for example, that nearly every crime they investigate has a digital component of some kind. Even crimes committed entirely offline usually include some pieces of digital evidence, whether on a cell phone, computer, or otherwise."

For a Q&A with Tim Cranton and an update on the Internet Safety Enforcement Team's latest endeavors, see Microsoft Calls on Global Public-Private Partnerships to Help in the Fight Against Cybercrime. 

You're probably already aware that a deadly cyclone hit the southeast Asian country of Myanmar in early May. What you may not know is that criminals have set up fake donation sites in order to scam generous donors who want to help.

This fraud is known as phishing. Pronounced "fishing," this is a type of online identity theft that uses e-mail and also fraudulent Web sites that are designed to steal your personal data or information such as credit card numbers, passwords, account data, or other information.  

For more information on how to help protect yourself from donation phishing scams, see Want to help? Take care to avoid online donation scams.

Safer ways to donate

Microsoft has encouraged employees who wish to donate to give through partner international humanitarian relief organizations, such as CARE, World Vision, The American Red Cross, or Save the Children. Microsoft has also partnered with NetHope — a nonprofit IT consortium of leading international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) — to provide technology resources and support as needed.

To learn about Microsoft's efforts to help in Myanmar and to learn about safer ways to donate money, see Disaster Response and Humanitarian Relief.

A Windows Live ID is your e-mail address and a password that you choose. After you've signed up for a Windows Live ID, you can use it on Windows Live sites like Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger, Office Live, Xbox Live, and more.

To get tips on how to choose a strong password and how to help keep your Windows Live ID more secure, read Help protect your Windows Live ID.