Do you believe what Microsoft says about Vista being the most secure version of Windows yet? Do you trust in Microsoft’s OneCare anti-virus software to protect you? If your answer is yes, then you are in trouble. Microsoft yesterday acknowledged on their Technet Blog that poor test results of its OneCare anti-virus software in last month’s VB100 [Virus Bulletin 100], but promised it would do better by paying more attention to malware actually in the wild.
Windows Live OneCare’s skills have been called into question by other tests in recent weeks. Earlier this month, AV Comparatives, a nonprofit site that pits the most popular anti-virus products against nearly half a million pieces of malware, placed OneCare dead last in a list of 17 programs.
While Bill Gates has described Vista as ‘dramatically more secure’ than other operating systems, thanks to its numerous new security features, security researchers have challenged the claims, pointing out several shortfalls in the same security features.
For instance, while Sophos researchers have revealed numerous viruses working under Vista, anti-spyware firm Webroot has shown Windows Defender to fail to detect a high percentage of the spyware presented to it, and Kaspersky researchers have picked holes in the usefulness of the User Access Control system, demonstrated the vulnerability of Patchguard to rootkits, and surmised that as long as hackers and virus writers continue to search for vulnerabilities, they will continue to find them. It is recommended that you use at least another anti-virus / anti-malware/anti-spyware program in Vista to protect yourself.