October 21, 2009
Windows 7 Security: A Roundup of Security Features and Commentary from Around the Web
So the big IT news this week is, of course, the launch of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system tomorrow (Thursday, October 22, 2009). While the jury's still out on whether widespread Windows 7 adoption will improve security in a global sense, it does look like there are some solid new security features that could definitely help decrease malware propagation as well as preventing data breaches from lost or stolen devices (with the inclusion of BitLocker drive encryption that can now support USB removable devices, i.e., "BitLocker to Go").
PC World has a nice overview of some of the core Windows 7 security features including a short primer on how to protect drives with BitLocker. This seems like one of the most dramatic improvements to me (as our own research found that more than 20% of large enterprises investigated a data breach due to lost or stolen devices and media in just the past 12 months). Find that overview here:
PC World: A Guide to Windows 7 Security
CNET's download.com site has a slideshow tour of some of the security-related interfaces in Windows 7 including shots of the security Action Center and User Account Control panel with some easy-to-digest commentary:
Of course, some things haven't changed over previous versions of Windows. Our friends at F-Secure have previously pointed out that the Windows Explorer default of hiding file extensions for known file types represents a security problem because that makes it more likely for users to inadvertently run malware executables that are masquerading as document or media files (e.g., GIFs, JPEGs or WMVs).
This default continues in Windows 7. Personally, I don't know how folks can even deal with Windows when you can't see file extensions and this is one of the first things I change on a new system or fresh Windows install.
Find F-Secure's commentary on this issue here:
F-Secure Blog: Windows 7 Fail
I haven't had much time to mess about with Windows 7 yet, though I've been pretty impressed with it based on my experience installing the 64-bit version of the Win 7 beta on a new drive. It definitely offers snappier performance over XP on the same hardware and the ability to address huge amounts of memory is a huge win for folks like me who do a lot of multimedia work.
That being said, as with any new install of Windows, your first stop should after installation of Win 7 should be to install a good desktop anti-virus solution. I was pleased to find that F-Secure's Internet Security 2010 already supports Windows 7 (both 64-bit and 32-bit versions) and installed with no hassles. I'm sure that many of the other major anti-virus solutions offer the same support, but I continue to be a big fan of F-Secure because it's very effective, doesn't hog system resources and has a slick user interface.
