Vista security concerns

'Dramatically more secure'... or not?

January saw the full commercial release of Microsoft's latest operating system: the long-awaited Vista. Since its release arguments have continued to rumble on over whether the new OS is any more secure than others. While Bill Gates has described Vista as 'dramatically more secure' than other operating systems, thanks to its numerous new security features, security researchers have challenged the claims, pointing out several shortfalls in the same security features.

For instance, while Sophos researchers have revealed numerous viruses working under Vista, anti-spyware firm Webroot has shown Windows Defender to fail to detect a high percentage of the spyware presented to it, and Kaspersky researchers have picked holes in the usefulness of the User Access Control system, demonstrated the vulnerability of Patchguard to rootkits, and surmised that as long as hackers and virus writers continue to search for vulnerabilities, they will continue to find them.

01 February 2007

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