astala "VISTA"

A security researcher at the Black Hat security conference has demonstrated several ways to circumvent security features that are built into Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Vista operating system. According to media reports, a researcher demonstrated two ways to attack a Windows Vista system during a session at the conference. The exposed flaws would potentially allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code. Windows Vista requires that all device drivers are 'signed' to prevent malicious code from posing as a legitimate driver. The researcher however demonstrated a way to load unsigned drivers. The researcher in the second case used the virtualisation technology in a system's AMD processor to inject code into the Vista kernel. The technology would allow an attacker to create a new hypervisor that could control the operating sytem. It would remain undetected from the user and would be at the attacker's disposal. Although the attack was demonstrated on an AMD processor, it would also work on PCs running Intel chips. Both attacks relied on documented features in Windows Vista and cannot be considered bugs. As reported last week, security vendor Symantec has demonstrated several ways to circumvent the operating system's user account protections. Although Microsoft has since repaired the bugs Symantec had identified, it illustrates that the software still has weaknesses and that additional bugs are likely in the future. The security software in Vista is "ineffective" in blocking malware and slow to update against viruses. A test performed found that Windows Defender, the security software included with Vista, failed to catch 84 per cent of spyware and malware. The test included 15 of the most common malware programs, said Webroot.