Microsoft is turning to a former rival to improve the security of computing devices.
The company will use software based on the Linux operating system, not its own Windows operating system, for new security features to protect internet-connected toys and other consumer devices, Microsoft President Brad Smith said at the RSA security conference in San Francisco.
Microsoft once deemed the free, open-source Linux system as a threat to its intellectual property, but has changed its approach in recent years.
Smith says Microsoft wants to build better security for the tiny micro-controllers increasingly used to power a variety of internet-connected household devices.
He said the threat was demonstrated by a 2016 "botnet" attack that took down large chunks of the internet by hijacking routers, webcams and other connected devices.
