Microsoft has proposed a bold new internet security model based on the principles used to preserve public health on a global basis, USA Today reports. Scott Charney, corporate vice president of trustworthy computing at Microsoft, unveiled the software giant’s Collective Defense proposal on Oct. 5 during his keynote speech at the Information Security Solutions Europe (ISSE) conference in Berlin. Charney urged government and tech industry officials to act collectively to protect citizens and critical infrastructure from growing cyber threats. He compared unprotected and infected computers to unvaccinated and contagious individuals. Both, he said, can pose a threat to society. “We need to improve and maintain the health of consumer devices connected to the internet in order to avoid greater societal risk,” says Charney. “To realize this vision, there are steps that can be taken by governments, the IT industry, internet access providers, users, and others to evaluate the health of consumer devices before granting them unfettered access to the internet or other critical resources.” The model would require each PC to, in effect, present a “health certificate” that outlines its security posture before it could connect to the internet. Enforcement would come from internet service providers or some other authority…