It looks as if Microsoft is ready to do its part to discourage cyber crimes. Microsoft intends to offer real-time feeds that partners can use to examine possible cyber threats and take the proper steps to boost their defenses against these attacks.

With Microsoft’s achievements in tackling botnets, they've been able to accumulate a lot of information around the specific threats these botnets pose. By allowing the botnets to infect highly monitored environments, Microsoft had been able to isolate and remove the destructive bots and also discover how they work.

This collected information is now shared with ISPs, private and government agencies, & CERTs. While real-time data may not lessen the number of attacks by malicious code, the result of sharing this data will likely be quite extraordinary. IT security companies should be able to respond more quickly to these threats and therefore be able to lessen the level of damage they can cause.

Microsoft's live threat feed could have a far more important impact: It could lead the information security industry to share more data. For too long, companies have hesitated to discuss important security information that they fear can result in a copycat attack. This is a mistaken belief as cyber criminals are already trading information amongst themselves. It's a good idea, therefore, for security professionals to also share real-time information.

Let’s hope that security professionals soon realize that sharing information is more important than secrecy. And let’s hope that Microsoft’s move is a first step in this change of attitude.