Unauthorized - Parent Directory - Support

VISTA
PREVIEW
Because You Need Better Security
Vista Secret
In any folder containing
image files, click “Slide
Show” in Windows Explorer
to create a greatlooking
impromptu slide
show, albeit one that
takes a decent amount
of graphics horsepower.
Windows XP’s included
slide show is rudimentary
by comparison.
Red=Danger!
Yellow=Suspicious
Green=Certified
74 PC MAGAZINE MAY 9, 2006
IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU
PROBABLY run Windows
XP in administrator mode.
There’s no cause and effect
here. It’s just that, while Win
XP allows and recommends
creation of Limited user accounts that
make many exploits impossible, a vast
number of programs and common
activities don’t work under a Limited
account, so typically, everybody’s an
Administrator. This is one of Win XP’s
biggest security problems.
Vista’s User Account Control (formerly
User Account Protection)
should go a long way toward fixing
this. Microsoft aims to allow the widest
possible range of activity in a Standard
(don’t call it Limited!) account
and handles legacy programs that assume
greater privilege. Any Administrator
can grant one-time permission
when necessary. And now, even Administrators run
at Standard level, with a warning from Vista when
elevated privilege is required. Unfortunately the frequent
“Windows needs your permission . . . ” warnings
can get pretty annoying.
The implementation of Windows Service Hardening,
a related feature, has been completed since
Vista Beta 1. It minimizes the impact of malware
that exploits Windows services by allowing each service
access only to the resources it actually needs.
These protections may make it harder for hackers
to take advantage of the OS, but today the bad
guys are just as likely to try to take advantage of
you instead. That’s why IE7 in Vista now implements
Microsoft’s antiphishing scheme. I tried it on
known phishing sites and one with an invalid security
certificate—it red-flagged them and blocked access.
Sites with verified security are green-flagged;
YYePG Proudly Presents, Thx for Support
PARENTAL CONTROLS Parents can limit kids’ Web
site access and game-playing—and see detailed
activity reports (above). The clear, simple Time Restrictions
grid (right) lets parents easily define which
hours on which days which kids can be logged on.
others get a yellow rating if analysis of their HTML
code reveals suspicious elements. Spyware protection
from Windows Defender (for a review, see
go.pcmag.com/vista) is now built into Vista, and it
automatically scans any files downloaded through
IE. And as IE7 is a prime target, Vista safeguards it
further by having it run in Protected Mode, a stilllower
privilege level designed to thwart browsersubverting
malware.
In Beta 1, Vista’s Parental Controls system could
limit access to games by name, content, or ESRB
rating. This was nice, but most parents are more
concerned about what their kids are doing online
and how long they’re spending soldered to their systems.
Now that the Parental Controls system has all
its planned features it addresses these issues, going
much further than in Beta 1 and rivaling some thirdparty
products. The administrator can limit the days
and times each user is allowed on the computer and
establish a list of approved programs (denying access
to all others). Web-site filtering based on content,
whitelists, and blacklists is available on a per-user
basis. And Activity Monitoring will report a wealth of
details about the user’s actions, including the top ten
sites visited, blocked sites, files downloaded, applications
launched, and more. I put a Standard account
under Parental Control and tried to hack the protection,
but I couldn’t break it.