Windows 7 – a High-Performance and reliable OS Platform

Windows Vista laid the foundation of a secure and reliable platform with the introduction of features like User Account Control, that helped reduce the attack surface of the operating system, Service hardening, Bitlocker Drive Encryption, Internet Explorer Protected mode etc.

Windows 7 is an operating system that has been built to deliver high performance as well as a good level of built-in security to make it secure-by-default and secure-by-design.

Some of the new and improved security features in Windows 7 are listed here:

IMPROVEMENT	DESCRIPTION
BitLocker and BitLocker To Go	Encrypts entire volumes, including system volumes, non-system volumes, and removable drives.
Applocker	Provides flexible control over which applications users can run.
Multiple active firewall profiles	Provides different firewall profiles for the physical network adapter and virtual network adapters used by VPNs.
User Account Control	Gives standard users the opportunity to provide administrative credentials when the operating system requires them. For administrators, it runs processes with standard privileges by default and prompts the administrator to confirm before granting administrative privileges to a process.
Internet Explorer security features	Reduces the risk of phishing and malware attacks when users browse the Web.
Auditing enhancements	Provide more granular control over which events are audited.
Safe unlinking in the kernel pool	Reduces the risk of overrun attacks.
Windows Biometric Framework	Provides a uniform interface for fingerprint scanners.
Smart cards	Provides a standard smart card driver interface.
Service accounts	Enables administrators to create accounts for services without needing to manage service account passwords.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows 7 addresses Specific Security Concerns in various ways…

 

 

Security Concern	What it means	Windows 7 Defense-in-Depth
Protecting Against Bundling and Social Engineering	With bundling, malware is packaged with useful software. Often the user is not aware of the negative aspects of the bundled software. With social engineering, the user is tricked into installing the software. Typically, the user receives a misleading e-mail or browser pop-up containing instructions to open an attachment or visit a Web site. Windows 7 offers significantly improved protection against both bundling and social engineering. With the default settings, malware that attempts to install via bundling or social engineering must circumvent two levels of protection: UAC and Windows Defender.
Protecting Against Browser Exploit Malware Installations	Historically, many malware installations occurred because the user visited a malicious Web site, and the Web site exploited a vulnerability in the Web browser to install the malware. In some cases, users received no warning that software was being installed. In other cases, users were prompted to confirm the installation, but the prompt might have been misleading or incomplete.
Protecting Against Network Worms	Bundling, social engineering, and browser exploits all rely on the user to initiate a connection to a site that hosts malware, but worms can infect a computer without any interaction from the user. Network worms spread by sending network communications across a network to exploit a vulnerability in remote computers and install the worm. After it is installed, the worm continues looking for new computers to infect.

 

 

 

 

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