Microsoft: Vista feature designed to 'annoy users'

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

http://www.news.com/Microsoft-Vista-feature-designed-to-annoy-users/2100-101
6_3-6237191.html?tag=nefd.top

 

SAN FRANCISCO--A Microsoft manager has said that one of the security
features in Vista was deliberately designed to "annoy users" to put pressure
on third-party software makers to make their applications more secure. 

David Cross, a product unit manager at Microsoft, was the group program
manager in charge of designing User Account Control (UAC), which, when
activated, requires people to run
<http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9905831-56.html>  Vista in standard user
mode rather than having administrator privileges, and offers a prompt if
they try to install a program. 

"The reason we put UAC into the (Vista) platform was to annoy users--I'm
serious," said Cross, speaking at the RSA Conference
<http://www.news.com/RSA-2008-Blanketing-security/2009-7355_3-6236457.html>
here Thursday. "Most users had administrator privileges on previous Windows
systems and most applications needed administrator privileges to install or
run." 

Cross claimed that annoying users had been part of a Microsoft strategy to
force independent software vendors (ISVs) to make their code more secure, as
insecure code would trigger a prompt, discouraging users from executing the
code. 

.

 

 

_______________________________________________
Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts.
https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec
Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.