information security technical report 11 (2006) 159
available at www.sciencedirect.com
www.compseconline.com/publications/prodinf.htm
Editorial for v.11 n.4 of the Information Security Technical
Report: ‘‘Windows Security Revisited’’
In the current climate, it is almost impossible to discuss
any security relevant threat and countermeasure without
turning to end-host (and ultimately Windows) security. With
the planned release of the new Vista Operating System sched-
uled for early 2007 it is interesting to see, through a number of
the articles in the current edition of the journal, the progres-
sion in security design within the Windows architecture.
A few key themes emerge through this edition of the ISTR:
the changing security landscape; the insider threat; providing
defence in depth; treating security design as a process, not an
end tool. While these topics are in evidence throughout the
articles collated here, for us it is interesting to see how their
inclusion reflects concerns that go beyond the provision of
a secure computing environment within Windows. It is our
belief that these issues are integral to current thinking
throughout the wider security community. Thus, when we
reflect upon the discussions in the current articles, we should
be able to gain insights into the ongoing challenges facing the
security community at large.
The changing security landscape is reflected in three ways:
the need for a new security API within Vista; the requirement
for increased security at the device interface; and the discus-
sion on virtualisation. In combination, these articles highlight
how important it is to do two key things in security: consis-
tently analyse how the threat model changes in our computing
environments, and ensure that our protection mechanisms are
able to change at a pace that is consistent with those changing
threats. The threats we face in any computing environment are
limited only by the inventiveness of the attacker. As these arti-
cles demonstrate, if we are not able to change at a similar pace,
then our efforts could all be in vain.
While most security surveys for the past decade highlight
the importance of the insider threat, virtually all common-
place tools on the market are designed to mitigate the external
threat. The article on device interface security highlights the
risks faced by those with easy access to hosts. This analysis,
coupled with the adoption of the principle of least privilege
within the Vista security architecture, demonstrate that the
insider threat is not lost in the hubbub of looking outside for
our threats. Dealing with insiders intelligently – in particular
contractor and third-party insiders – is clearly only going to
become more important as processing environments become
increasingly pervasive and accessible.
Defence in depth is something which has been preached
by many over the years. However, achieving it without leav-
ing unintended holes is clearly a difficult task. Providing
security mechanisms at the device interface, and intrusion
detection at the application layer highlights the need for gen-
uine end-to-end security in any environment. It is good to see
that the design process for Vista has this as one of its core
themes.
Finally, as Vista becomes the first operating system from
Microsoft to be designed under its new Security Development
Lifecycle, will it make a significant difference to security in
what is inevitably the most targeted platform on the Internet?
Will Vista genuinely make it easier to manage security at the
desktop, and will the impact of defence in depth and easier
management be enough in the face of attackers who are
becoming more financially motivated? Only time will tell.
Geraint Price is a lecturer in Information Security at Royal
Holloway, University of London. He lectures on the underlying
security technologies of relevance in distributed security envi-
ronments. In addition he researches in the areas of PKIs and
distributed systems’ security.
Dr. G. Price
Information Security Group,
Royal Holloway,
University of London
E-mail address: geraint.price@rhul.ac.uk
1363-4127/$ – see front matter
ª 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.istr.2006.09.003