To make Windows as secure as Linux, remove Admin Rights
A security report published this week by British company Avecto reveals that around 98% of the 240 vulnerabilities found (and fixed) by Microsoft in 2014 could be exploited by someone with administrator privileges. So the first thought that comes to everyone's mind is to "turn" our account into a standard user account to be fully protected.
While this isn't exactly the best option for many tech-savvy users out there, Avecto states that statistics show that, in the case of critical Windows vulnerabilities, no less than 97% of them could be exploited by someone with administrator privileges.
In other words, only 2% of them rely on a different method, so the chance of your computer being hacked is significantly reduced in the case of a standard user account.
The percentage is even higher for Internet Explorer, with 99.5% of its flaws requiring administrator privileges, while for Microsoft Office, only 95% of them require special privileges.
Statistics show that, in the case of Microsoft, remote code execution flaws are the biggest concern for users, as they allow cybercriminals to inject malicious files into users' computers and, therefore, try to take full control. In this case, they would need administrator privileges, and Avecto says that more than 90% of them can be blocked by simply switching to a standard user account.
“These statistics serve as another reminder of the importance of removing administrative privileges in an enterprise environment. Analysts and respected industry bodies, such as SANS, The Council on Cyber Security and the Australian Department of Defense, state that the controlled use of administrative privileges is a fundamental part of their security,” Avecto said.
Locking down Windows and switching to a standard account could indeed be a good way to prevent users from successfully exploiting security vulnerabilities, but Microsoft's operating system still lacks advanced systems that would allow users to provide an administrator password for certain tasks.
For example, on Linux, users must provide a root password every time they attempt to install software or updates, while on Windows, standard users must log out completely and switch to an account with administrator privileges to perform the same tasks.
There are ways to do this without logging out, but it requires some additional changes that beginners may find difficult to digest.
