Steve Riley Departs Microsoft

In a blog post today Steve Riley of the Trustworthy Computing Group announced his departure from Microsoft.

Friends, as a part of Microsoft’s second round of restructuring, my position was eliminated yesterday and my employment with Microsoft has ended. While there were many rewards that came from my job, the most satisfying element was knowing that our time spent together helped improve everyone—whether at conferences or through this blog, I’ve learned as much from you as you’ve learned from me. Sharing information, debating positions, and doing the right work for the right reasons are all very important and I’m honored and humbled to have been trusted by so many of you.

If you’ve attended a security session at TechEd in the last few years then chances are you’ve seen one of Steve’s incredibly engaging presentations.  I myself was quite amazed at not only the depth of understanding he exhibited in such a wide range of subjects, but also the entertaining way in which he delivered the material to an audience.  Security can be a dull, unexciting topic at times, often pushed into the “too hard” basket.  I think Steve did a fantastic job keeping it interesting and at the forefront of people’s minds for such a long time.

You can still follow Steve at his new blog at MSInfluentials.com where other former Microsoft people such as Jesper Johannson also contribute.