Is Windows Vista really safe?

According to Microsoft, Vista is the company's safest operating system ever. Windows Vista promises to lock down the PC and create an era of "secure computing" and aggressive malware (malware) into the past.

However, only 3 months after the OS officially launched, there were many problems. Anti-malware software developers, hackers and security experts have raised doubts about the effectiveness of Microsoft's security solutions, and some even argue that Vista's security model only is "joke".

Microsoft has always been a lucrative target, especially when the company made "overly aggressive" statements, the first test shows that Vista is much safer than previous versions of Windows. It means that this new OS marks the end of Windows' security worries, some of the fuss for IT administrators will be reduced, but weaknesses and remedies are still top concerns.

No need for administration

One of Vista's most praised security improvements was the most criticized. UAC (User Account Control) aims to solve a long-standing vulnerability in the way Windows controls user rights, but those who don't like it say it's not strong enough and inefficient due to inappropriate design.

The problem here is the role of the administrator account. The best solution is that users are only granted administrative rights when performing tasks that require this permission, such as installing device drivers or changing the registry. But in fact, by default users often log in with an administrator account, even with common tasks. When users log in with administrative rights, worms and Trojan horses are powerless.

Worse, Microsoft's neglect of user rights encourages independent software firms to use sloppily, using insecure programming methods to make matters worse. Many Windows applications won't work unless they're allowed to run with full administrative rights - that is, run in the least secure way.

UAC tries to fix this bad habit, by default running the software with reduced privileges. When an application tries to do something that requires administrative rights, UAC will prompt the user with a dialog box asking if it is allowed to "upgrade" the application to a higher level.

Unfortunately, UAC is loophole. On his blog, Joanna Rutkowska details many of UAC Vista's vulnerabilities are at risk of being exploited. For example, software installers are always allowed to run with full administrative rights as in older Windows versions. In addition, Symantec's security expert Ollie Whitehouse points out that executable files provided with Vista can be used to "bypass" UAC. Thus the issues related to the administrative account are still there.

However, not only is UAC's cross-platform programming vulnerability lacking, but UAC's confirmation dialogs can be annoying and somewhat confusing. Users can try to ban UAC to avoid annoyance, or can ignore the warning message and click OK without thinking. Moreover, they can easily be fooled by psychological or fake tactics.

According to Microsoft's UAC documentation: " Windows Vista offers many features to protect your system, but it requires proper use. Safely protecting your system depends on your behavior. , so think before you press ". In other words, UAC places responsibility on the safety of the system in the hands of users - absolutely safe and difficult.

In fact, Microsoft does not encourage customers to think of UAC as a clear protection screen - and so, as Rutkowska notes, it does not see gaps in the implementation of UAC as a security vulnerability.

Need to tweak

Microsoft also added many other features to Windows Vista in addition to UAC, many of which are intended to increase the overall security of the OS. But if you look carefully, these additions are only minor improvements compared to previous versions of Windows.

Windows Firewall has been set by default on all new Windows installations since Windows Service Pack 2. With Vista, Windows Firewall adds the ability to block outbound and outbound connections - a significant improvement when the Windows Firewall is available. spyware, phishing, and denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are increasing. However, filtering of outgoing packets by default is not enabled. Without manual configuration, Vista's firewall is no more secure than XP SP2's firewall.

A new program called Windows Defender adds malware protection to Windows, but it is primarily aimed at ordinary users and so far does not seem as good as other software available for XP. According to Webroot, a competing anti-malware vendor, Windows Defender misses many spyware. Worse, in February, Windows Defender was discovered to be a loophole to attack Vista, due to a possible vulnerability in the malware detection mechanism. Similarly, while Vista has a hard drive encryption feature called BitLocker, it does not work by default, the ability to protect against modern computer inspection techniques is still suspicious.

Worse yet, some of the new features added to Vista are actually detrimental to overall security. In January, Vista's speech recognition feature was found to be useful to access (restrict) remote computer systems, allowing any file to be deleted.

External enemies

Vista's speech recognition lacks a serious weakness. As with previous versions of Windows, most attacks on systems running Windows Vista will not exploit the OS itself, but applications that run on the OS.

Microsoft actually made significant improvements to Windows Vista, which is designed to limit some of the most commonly used application weaknesses. A new series of techniques makes it more difficult for hackers to exploit familiar errors by obscuring memory address space and protecting access to the operating system kernel. The original Symantec study showed that Vista is still vulnerable to some form of attack but concludes that "this protection method achieves many of the security goals that Microsoft sets".

Using .Net as a mainstream development model for Windows Vista also enhances security. Controlled code and safe "close" features of the .Net platform protect developers from common programming errors that can create vulnerabilities that are vulnerable to exploitation. However, the fundamental weakness of these technologies is the need to rewrite the program code. Traditional applications that do not follow Vista's new security model will still be vulnerable.

Until older applications are upgraded to exploit the latest Microsoft security technologies, users won't benefit much from running them on Vista in addition to what UAC provides. Although Microsoft has made significant improvements, Vista is not a magic pill to create a secure computing environment.

Longhorn security is promising

Vista's security advancements may be ambitious, but they seem small compared to Longhorn's security.It was found at the end of the year, Longhorn was still a "pre-test" version - prebeta 3, but its security was promising.

Interestingly, the Longhorn firewall combines managed IPSec with a firewall. The "rule" mechanism can control policy-based security, including authentication and encryption. You can even assign rules to servers (like Active Directory servers) or user groups. All can be managed with Microsoft Management Console or in System Center applications.

Longhorn's kernel is protected in a similar way to Vista, and also supports BitLocker file encryption using authentication chips or external devices such as USB keys. BitLocker is also built specifically to prevent data theft by installing another operating system or similar ways. Regarding physical security, Longhorn supports available detachable device control settings (of course USB access control), and it has a new boot manager.

Regarding software, Microsoft said Windows Services are also reinforced. On Longhorn, when a service needs to be installed, it needs to register first to use the tasks allowed to access server and network resources. Using this technique, Longhorn can be alert to services that require access to sensitive areas.

Finally, there is NAP (Network Access Protection). Similar to Cisco NAC (Network Admission Control), this is a test barrier designed to ensure each client log on to the network for valid authentication and compliance with security rules. Longhorn administrators can design responses to many different NAP situations using all the usual tools: DHCP, VPN, IPSec . In theory, NAP looks great, but Mircosoft needs try more.

NAP follows Cisco's NAC, so a slower development rate than Cisco can be detrimental to Longhorn. Fortunately, in September 2006 the two companies had a "handshake" agreement between protocols that allowed combining NAC and NAP on a common network. As long as Microsoft can attract customers, this technology will have a foothold.

Microsoft painted a pink picture of the security of Long horn, saying that this is a big step forward on the server side.When Longhorn launches we will have the opportunity to verify this.

Safe way

Russ Humphries, director of Windows Vista security program, said: " We are confident that Windows Vista is the safest version of Windows so far. However, it is important to note that no operating system is available. absolute ".

In short, Windows Vista is not absolutely safe, but it is not vulnerable to attack. Technological advances in the operating system provide real security benefits, but Microsoft also recognizes other anti-malware and security products that are still useful for Vista users like with previous Windows versions.

As usual with Microsoft operating systems, Vista's biggest weakness lies in its desire for backward compatibility. Most of the weaknesses discovered in Vista have so far exploited traditional applications that do not apply the new Windows security model. Even UAC itself is a compromise with the old methods.

The sooner the enterprise applies new Windows technologies, the sooner they will benefit from Microsoft's technological innovations in the field of security. Wherever possible, common applications should switch to controlled code and the .Net platform, and keep an eye out for new Windows security methods and libraries.

Specific security settings depend on the security requirements of each business, but generally for effective security on Windows Vista, there must be a combination of monitoring, compliance with security policies, tools third-party anti-malware and security tools - in other words, the same. Vista has significantly improved security compared to Windows XP, but in the end, it is still Windows.

Security step by step

Windows Vista has many new security features, but no features eliminate the threat from hackers and malware.

Function

Good

Bad

UAC (User Account Control)Restrict users to run with Administrator rights;request confirmation of potentially harmful actions.Tools, not barriers;some programs can bypass UAC protection mechanisms;Users can ban it completely.Windows FirewallBlock both incoming and outgoing connections.Outbound connections are not monitored by default and require complex configuration.Windows DefenderBuilt-in anti-mailware tool can block malicious programs before attacking.Ineffective with the tools of other existing companies.BitLockerData is protected by integrated hard drive encryption, preventing theft.The default does not turn on;The real security level is unknown.Driver Signing, PatchGuardOnly Microsoft authenticated drivers and patches can install, reducing the risk of rootkit and Trojan horse attacks.Only works on Vista 64-bit;touch with other firm's security software.Restricted exploitation technologiesPrevent hackers from exploiting old bugs in application code.Usually does not work unless supported by application developers.

Nguyen Le