Everyone has said it before and I’m going to say it again, the world is a strange place. To illustrate this; consider the following. Microsoft has long been rightly criticized for, among other things, flaws in Internet Explorer, particularly those related to security. Mozilla on the other hand has a reputation for being far more resistant to the hazards of the web such as spyware and dangerous viruses. The FireFox browser given away by Mozilla is used by many who regard Internet Explorer as simply not worth the hassles created by it security problems.

Now the curious part, a woman with the unlikely name of Window Snyder worked with security issues for Microsoft. Her accomplishments included an effort to bring hackers into a dialogue with Microsoft to help the company learn from the misdeeds of others. She has now been hired as the head of security for Mozilla.

Ignoring the oddity of someone named Window working for Microsoft, a coincidence no doubt, there is a certain disconnect between a person coming from a company whose security is suspect to a company noted for its safety. On the surface it has a touch of the lit match being in charge of the dynamite to it.

Of course, a fuller understanding of the issue might reveal that Ms. Snyder was a voice crying in the wilderness, trying with heroic resolve to make her bosses as Microsoft understand just how much their customers hated losing their privacy and getting pop up advertising. Mozilla might have been cruising along in an environment in which their apparent resistance to spyware and the like was merely a result of a very small market share. They weren’t having security problems because no one was bothering to try.

She has told the media that she intends operate Mozilla’s security in a more open environment by sharing improvements with whoever is interested and fix some old code problems in FireFox she believes to be potentially dangerous. She also wants a more open approach to the security research community that will improve the Internet for users everywhere. Rather an odd notion, open environment and security, but I must applaud the sentiment.

However, at least until more is known, fans of FireFox must hope that the problems with Internet Explorer security couldn’t be left at Window Snyder’s door. I like FireFox and wish it only the best so I will look forward to Ms. Snyder’s reign of open environments and trust she will keep all that junk off my computer.