Tech Strategy Trends » DEP

What You Need to Know About Windows 7 Security

Tony Bradley — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:21:31 +0000

Windows 7 is the most secure desktop operating system Microsoft has yet developed. As exhibited in Microsoft’s most recent Security Intelligence Report, it is a quantum improvement over Windows XP, which still enjoys better than 50 percent market share.

Roger Grimes takes an extensive, in-depth dive under the hood to explain the various features and components of Windows 7 security. Read all of the installments of Grimes’ three-part series on Windows 7 Security: What You Need to Know.

When you’re done with that, you can follow it up with a more general look at current security threats above and beyond Windows 7 by reading How to Stop 11 Hidden Security Threats.

Windows XP: The Path of Least Resistance for Attacks

Tony Bradley — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:30:00 +0000

I’ll let you in on a little secret…Windows 7 is more secure than Windows XP. According to the most recent Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, Windows XP with Service Pack 3 is 75 percent more likely to be compromised by malware or exploits than 64-bit Windows Vista with Service Pack 1. Windows 7 is more secure than that.

The problem is that Windows XP still accounts for nearly three-fourths of the operating system market. Windows 7 has been a huge success, and that success will continue throughout 2010, but not all regions of the world are likely to adopt the latest and greatest flagship PC operating system from Microsoft at the same rate and that will leave some regions more vulnerable than others.

Malware developers and cyber criminals are a lazy bunch and tend to take the path of least resistance. Regions that lag in adopting Windows 7 and continue to rely on Windows XP will offer attackers pockets of easy targets.

The most affected regions for the Conficker worm were Brazil, China, Russia, India, and Vietnam. F-Secure chief research officer Mikko Hypponen says “It’s likely that XP attacks will still be around for a number of years…The easy target will be these ghettos.”

Windows 7 Security: More Work to be Done

Tony Bradley — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:23:40 +0000

Microsoft’s Windows 7 is the most secure desktop operating system it has ever produced. Of course, why shouldn’t it be. It seems reasonable to expect that each new version of the operating system will build on the security features that work, address issues from its predecessor, and include new security innovations. Basically, it would be a huge failure if it wasn’t the most secure Windows yet.

Even with advances in security like ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) and DEP (Data Execution Prevention, the addition of BitLocker-to-Go encryption for portable USB drives, and the more secure Web browsing experience provided by Internet Explorer 8 (combined with UAC which enables Internet Explorer Protected Mode), there is still some work to be done if Microsoft is looking for ideas for Windows 8.

Security experts from nCircle and Sophos contribute their thoughts about what Windows 7 got right and what still has room for improvement–namely the Windows Firewall, XP Mode virtualization, and hiding known file extensions by default.