We have relaunched: What's new at ZDNet Asia?

ZDNet / News / Security / Story

Symantec sizes up security in Vista

By Dawn Kawamoto, CNET News.com on March 1, 2007

Summary

Windows SideBar and gadgets could pose security threats. But the greatest risk is third-party applications, security company says.

Events

Microsoft MSDN/Developer Event
25 Mar 2010

One Marina Boulevard, Microsoft Singapore

IT Architect Regional Conference Singapore 2010
20 - 21 Apr 2010

Singapore Management University, Singapore

The Internet Show 2010
21-22 Apr 2010

Suntec Singapore

Windows Vista might be Microsoft's most secure operating system yet, but its Windows SideBar and gadgets could pose security threats, Symantec says.

And the greatest threat of all continues to be third-party applications designed for Microsoft's new operating system, according to research released Wednesday by Symantec, which has become a Microsoft competitor as the software giant delves deeper into offering security features.

"Third-party applications continue to be the largest area of exposure. Microsoft has done a good job at protecting the core operating system, but third-party applications remain exposed," Oliver Friedrichs, director of the Symantec Security Response Center, said in reference to Microsoft's release earlier this year of its consumer version of Vista.

The lack of security surrounding third-party applications is nothing new, but attackers are starting to move up the application stack and away from the core operating system, Friedrichs said.

During the first six months of last year, 78 percent of new security vulnerabilities were found in Web applications, according to Symantec's research. And Windows Vista provides no enhanced security in this particular area, as the majority of vulnerabilities today are seen within PHP, Python, Perl, ASP and other languages, the security firm said.

"Microsoft has solved yesterday's problem but not eradicated security risks entirely," Friedrichs said.

A Microsoft spokesman said that while Windows Vista is the most secure version of its operating system to date, none of its security features--individually or collectively--are designed to be a "silver bullet" for computer security.

"Security is about making choices," the spokesman said. "Make it too restrictive and users will have to interact with the software more to do what they want. Conversely, focus on ease of use by making the default settings less stringent and increase the chance that a system can be attacked."

The Symantec "report does not properly address the fact that many of the Windows Vista security technologies have numerous options that allow for a user to make their own judgments," he added.

Within Vista itself, Symantec found that the Windows SideBar and gadgets could lead to security risks for users. The gadgets, or tools, use static HTML and scripting to allow developers to easily create new plug-ins for the Windows desktop, such as clock or calculator applications.

The gadgets do not automatically execute, but Symantec is concerned that they are automatically authorized to communicate over the Internet, making them an attractive target for attackers.

The security firm also found that while Vista's Address Space Layout Randomization strives to reduce denial-of-service attacks by loading programs randomly in memory, the process is not as secure as Symantec anticipated.

"We found the randomness of the addresses were not as optimal as we would expect," Friedrichs said.

Talkback

Add your opinion

In order to post a comment, you need to be registered. (Sign In or register below)

Post your comment
Transform your business interactions with real-time voice, video and telepresence solutions.
Tech Vendor: Cisco

ZDNet Asia Live

When I create an event, I click on an approximate time during the day when I want the event to occur, then I click "edit event detail...

1 hour 38 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Google Calendar gets 'smart' rescheduling

ipads break alott i had one it broke three times in the month i had it so i got rid of the damn thing id just go for the laptop Top Grade...

1 hour 40 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Report: 'Hundreds of thousands' of iPad preorders

There are a number of websites that still require Internet Explorer to view and IE for Mac Stinks (it is really ies4osx which is the Wind...

1 hour 41 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Microsoft: Only minor tweaks in Windows 7 SP1

The receivers don't transmit back to the satellite. Unless there is a phone line attached to the receiver, they don't have any wa...

1 hour 44 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Apple to join the geolocation craze?

What to expect from open source Symbian http://is.gd/aPIGL

1 hour 59 minutes ago by rebelk0de on topsy

"Lead Cognos BI Developer Insurance in New South Wales , Australian ..." http://bit.ly/ayy19L

2 hours 39 minutes ago by rhrcognos on topsy

whatever little understanding I have we 'll only progress toward end of the world if we use HPCs to lenthen life of human being. Huma...

11 hours 51 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing promises elixir of life

Thanks for the knowledgeable article on SDDs. Allas...when all this reasearch will happen in Indian Universities. Hope the new bill on Fo...

12 hours 4 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on APAC HPC users eye solid-state drives

It was a good article. This brings a good opportunity for Indian IT firms to come up with new solutions in this field. HPC can become a b...

12 hours 22 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing most-wanted job in Asia

COL KR DHARMADHIKARY(RETD) its very late to reply the link, but if it is still alive and looking for opportunity, i would like to know th...

16 hours 20 minutes ago by deb021280 on Education takes off in rural India, helped by PCs

It was just a matter of time until google was marginalised anyway. I'm afraid this will be forgotten in China very quickly. Still, it...

18 hours 24 minutes ago by robinsmith on Report: Google to leave China on April 10

High performance computing (HPC) most-wanted job in Asia http://bit.ly/9vFC3i (via @zdnetasia) #singapore

He doesn't care if her shoes are of glass, All he wants to see is a huge rack and nice a*s. Sleeping beauty's not awoken by true ...

18 hours 53 minutes ago by warlowdavies on One pair of 3D glasses to rule them all

RT @zdnetasia: EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. (cont) http://tl.gd/i5jjd

EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. http://bit.ly/9etOZW

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08 via @zdnetasia

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08

[TECH] URL Shorteners slow Web redirection. - http://bit.ly/bySnWK @zdnetasia

URL shorteners are great but they can slow web redirection & you pray it would never go down http://bit.ly/bySnWK via @zdnetasia

Temasek Holdings eyeing tech stocks, indicating optimistic outlook on IT sector. http://bit.ly/aM7VwU

URL shorteners slow Web redirection. http://bit.ly/bySnWK

Chinese agencies cry foul over Google. http://bit.ly/by6rwV

Philippine antipiracy drive focuses on enterprises. http://bit.ly/aWryDC

Gartner: China to become world's fastest-growing enterprise software market. http://bit.ly/bqJTtb

all of sg's isps have been practising compulsory invisible proxy for all home subscribers at their backend since many years back alre...

1 day 3 minutes ago by melvinchia on Web filters mean bad news for business

it is not to good for china.
Proactol

2 days 48 minutes ago by nathonastle on Chinese ad partners beg Google for information

RT @zdnetasia: HP touts new products and management and productivity tools to address business computing pain points. http://bit.ly/dudgA6

For those with a computer science background, or interested in the high performance computing scene: http://bit.ly/9vFC3i

HP touts new products and management and productivity tools to address business computing pain points. http://bit.ly/dudgA6

IT security insiders rob casinos of $50K http://is.gd/aPIKR

2 days 20 minutes ago by rebelk0de on topsy

Very good explanation of JMX

2 days 53 minutes ago by Babith B on Managing applications with JMX

The reaction to a report issued Tuesday by Flurry Analytics managed to completely overlook some interesting news--the Android-based Motorola Droid outsold the original iPhone over the same period of time following their respective launches--to focus instead on the sales numbers for the Nexus One.

3 days 57 minutes ago by lonemavericks on diggs

Another ZTE story....

3 days 59 minutes ago by Moderate Your Greed on Philippines opens bid for final 3G license

We at www.fifosys.com have also seen a growth in IT outsourcing and anticipate it as a growing field.

3 days 32 minutes ago by sarah Jane on Companies' outsourcing spend to increase

Keep up with ZDNet Asia

Linkedin Join our network

RSS Feeds Subscribe now

Newsletters Subscribe today

Twitter Follow us

Inside ZDNet Asia

Special Report: Tech Focus in 2010

Latest Videos on Tech Industry

Insight: Interviews with Newsmakers

Search for over 15,000 Tech Jobs in Asia

Find your Tech answers in TechGuides

IT Library: Over 60,000 IT papers at your fingertips

Download IT Priorities 2010 Report