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Microsoft’s Controversial UAC Spawns Alternatives


By David Worthington
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April 1, 2007 —  (Page 1 of 3)
Microsoft says that Windows Vista is the most secure version of Windows yet. That claim may have some teeth: The company has built in a bevy of new technologies to harden Windows. One of them, the Windows Vista UAC (User Account Control), is sparking debate about just how sharp those teeth are.

Past versions of Windows gave users administrative-level rights by default, but Windows Vista’s UAC requires users to run with a standard-level user access token. Applications, components and processes that require elevated privileges cause Windows to notify users that administrative authorization is necessary, who must then supply appropriate credentials or stop what they are doing.

Microsoft designed UAC as a failsafe, to limit the damage malicious software can cause to a system, and is uniform across every Windows Vista version. But does UAC make sense in a business environment?

THE PRIVILEGED MANY
Although Microsoft added restricted-access accounts in 1997’s Windows NT, some internal and shrink-wrapped enterprise applications still require elevated privileges to run correctly on Windows, because they were engineered under the assumption that all users had administrator access to the desktop. If an application does not have the privileges it requires for a task, it can stop dead in its tracks.

As it stands today, some IT administrators must hand over local control of the desktop to all users—including limited users—to make applications work. Users with higher privileges can modify system settings, install incompliant applications, and are more vulnerable to malware.

ENTERPRISE READY?
John Moyer, president of BeyondTrust, believes that UAC is unacceptable for the enterprise because it is not policy-based, allows the user too much trust, and runs afoul of least-privilege computing. “Essentially UAC has failed to meet the needs of the enterprise—even restricted users would need administrative credentials. From where we sit, it is a very good solution for the home users. They own the machine and can make those decisions.”




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