Microsoft has named a new chief security strategist to replace the outgoing security executive, who is headed to Washington, DC.
Microsoft's new security chief is Mr Scott Charney, a principal for PricewaterhouseCoopers's cybercrime prevention unit. He was chief of the computer crime and intellectual property unit at the US Department of Justice from 1991 to 1999.
Mr Charney's responsibility will be to develop ways to improve the security of Microsoft products and services.
Mr Charney replaces Mr Howard Schmidt, who worked at Microsoft for 54 months. Mr Schmidt is leaving to work for Mr Richard Clarke, chairman of President Mr George W. Bush's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, a spokeswoman confirmed.
The personnel moves come two weeks after Microsoft went public with a plan to make security a priority in its products.
In an e-mail sent to all Microsoft employees that was then released to the media, chairman Mr Bill Gates said focusing on security was vital to the success of the company's new .NET Web-based services.
The company has been criticised for rushing feature-rich software out to the market at the expense of security, leaving holes that put computer users at risk of attack from malicious hackers and viruses.