To improve the information-gathering phase of its security investigations Microsoft is moving away from the use of a dedicated e-mail address for contacting the company about security bugs, the company said Tuesday.

The Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) will continue to monitor secure@microsoft.com to accept vulnerability reports and to communicate with customers, according to a spokesman. But last weekend the company removed the e-mail address from the "Alert Us" page at its security site. In its place is a new Web-based input form designed to gather the information needed to start an investigation, the Microsoft representative said.

The new vulnerability reporting form coaches bug reporters through the steps of describing which products are affected, the nature of the flaw and how an attacker might exploit it. Once a report is submitted, the process operates exactly as before, primarily through e-mail between the customer and MSRC staff, Microsoft said.

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