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Enhancing Security with Microsoft Windows Vista: Strategic Considerations and Potential Issues

This article by Dan Blum, Senior VP at Burton Group, analyzes the security features of Microsoft Windows Vista compared to XP, highlighting improvements like user account control, IE7 enhancements, and better crypto support. It also discusses strategic considerations, such as tying in with Longhorn server's security capabilities and NAP, while pointing out caveats like UAC desensitization and application compatibility issues. The bottom line stresses that security is an ongoing process, emphasizing the need for proper management, identity security, and content control.

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Enhancing Security with Microsoft Windows Vista: Strategic Considerations and Potential Issues

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  1. Vista SecurityWill it Make a Difference? By Dan Blum Senior VP, Research Director Burton Group

  2. Security is Part of the Value Proposition • Microsoft Windows Vista has higher quality code and is way ahead of XP • Vista does a much better job of reducing user privilege requirements and resisting attacks • User account control (UAC) • IE7 enhancements • Kernel patch protection • Address Space Layout Randomization • Significant authentication improvements • Better crypto and smartcard support • Card Spaces • Somewhat better at protecting and isolating resources • Full volume encryption • Service hardening • Device driver signing • Better group policy

  3. Strategic Considerations • Vista will tie in with Longhorn server’s security infrastructure capabilities • Network Access Protection (NAP) health certificates, quarantine and remediation • Network independent policy controls within a domain • Big bet on IPSec: Authentication plus end to end policy controls configured in Active Directory • Identity management initiatives - improved smartcard, PKI and federation support • TPM hardware root of trust building up to rights management (unfinished work)

  4. But There Are Still Some Issues • Caveats to Vista Security • Too many UAC prompts desensitizes users in some cases • The full benefit of UAC will be realized only when more applications are written without assuming local admin • Still have to buy anti-virus from third party vendors, or from Microsoft • Existing security tools may not work with Vista until vendors have time to develop new releases • Vista will still get hacked, applications can still create vulnerabilities, and you’ll still have to patch

  5. More Issues • Migration challenges • Aero GUI resource demands (hardware compatibility) • Application compatibility • Security and management infrastructure compatibility • Interoperability of NAP infrastructure • Key management

  6. Bottom Line • Vista will make a difference • But security is something you do, not something you buy • How you manage Vista, XP, Mac, Linux, Unix, etc. and the applications/content on them is just as important as which one you use • Make Vista migration part of larger security policy and architecture goals • Get the user out of the sysadmin loop • Improve quality of identity management, authentication and application security • Tighten control over sensitive content and ways in which it is used and accessed • Consider migration, support early adopter communities, and prepare aggressively - the promise is there

  7. www.burtongroup.com

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