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    Opt out of administration to increase computer security

    by  Alan Zisman (c) 2009 First published in Business in Vancouver March 24-30, 2009; issue 1013

    High Tech Office column


    If you’re like most computer users, you’re logged-on to your computer as an “administrator.” That means you have complete power over it. You can install software, rename, move or delete files, apply updates – whatever your computer can do, your wish is its command.

    I suspect most of us aren’t aware that there’s any other way to be logged-on to a computer. And why, after all, would you want to be using a computer if you weren’t allowed to tell it what to do?

    A recent BeyondTrust report titled Reducing the Threat from Microsoft Vulnerabilities examined all of Microsoft’s 2008 security bulletins. Its conclusion: users would have been less susceptible to 92% of last year’s critical vulnerabilities if they had been logged in as a limited user. Running as a limited user would have provided protection against 94% of last year’s Microsoft Office exploits, 89% of Internet Explorer’s and 53% of Windows’ vulnerabilities.

    The basic idea: when you’re logged-in to a Windows system (at least a pre-Vista Windows system) with administrative rights, the assumption is that you’re in total control. As a result everything that your computer is asked to do is presumed to be with your full knowledge and consent. That may have been true at one time, but it’s no longer the case in this era of drive-by online malware installations.

    What’s needed instead is the principle of least privilege: when logged-in to a computer you should have the power only to do the things that you need to.

    No plans to install software right now? Then you shouldn’t have the ability to install software at this time. If that’s the case, you can rest assured that no rogue website is going to be able to install software either.

    For a long time, though, Microsoft didn’t make it easy to work this way. In earlier Windows versions, newly created users were automatically administrators. You had to take extra steps to make them limited users. It was easy to create all-powerful administrative users without passwords, so anyone with physical access or any rogue software process could take over their computers.

    And many applications – even games – wouldn’t run if a user was logged in with limited privileges. Trying to work that way was theoretically more secure. But it was so frustrating that many users who tried it soon gave up.

    Mac and Linux systems, in contrast, have long been better designed in this regard. User accounts need to have passwords and users better remember them: they’re asked to confirm most software installations, system updates and more. As a result, it’s much more difficult for malicious software to install itself on a Mac or Linux system.

    In Windows Vista, Microsoft tried to do the right thing with what it called User Account Control (UAC). Users are prompted to give permission for program installation and other actions.

    It didn’t get it right, however.

    On the one hand, UAC prompts pop-up too often in response to benign actions like renaming a desktop icon, training users to treat them as meaningless annoyances (if they don’t turn them off altogether).

    And if you’re logged in as an administrator, UAC prompts don’t require a password, leaving me wondering whether they’re secure.

    In pre-release versions of Windows 7, Microsoft has toned down UAC, making it less likely to pop up in response to commonplace user actions. But in making it less annoying, it may also be less secure. Blogger Long Zheng recently demonstrated how Windows 7’s UAC can be disabled without user interaction.

    It’s easy to use Windows (any version) more securely: create a new user account, setting it as a standard or limited user, and start logging-in to that account for most of your day-to-day computing. (Definitely set up your kids with limited accounts at home!)

    Just don’t forget your full-powered administrative log-on name and password. You’ll find yourself needing to use them from time to time.•

Alan Zisman is a Vancouver educator, writer, and computer specialist. He can be reached at E-mail Alan
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