Security in Windows 8: new passwords and other improvements

Microsoft has worked hard to bring important security enhancements to Windows 8 to help keep your secure system and improve responsivenessto viruses and other malware. This makes it the best prepared operating system, when it comes to security.

Antivirus included

Windows 8 is the first operating system from Microsoft that includes protection against viruses, spyware, Trojan horses, rootkits, and other malware from the very first start the computer with the system installed, without spending an extra euro for this service.

This task is handled by Windows Defender, which has been updated with Windows 8. This new service, in addition to including protection against spyware and other features that were offered in the previous version for Windows, includes traditional antivirus features To give you an idea, Windows Defender offers a look and feel similar to Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus program, offered to all users since 2009 as download optional.

Buying antivirus licenses like McAfee or Norton, or downloading free protection software like Avast or AVG, now becomes optional, while in previous versions, downloading these products was absolutely necessary. We're not going to compare the level of protection offered by companies established in security aspects with Windows Defender, but at least now everyone who uses Windows 8 will have basic security measures by default.

As I mentioned in a previous article, the SmartScreen filter for IE9 has been updated, offering this protection integrated into Windows itself, working not only with IE, but also with Firefox, Chrome or other browser.

Fast and secure from the start

Starting with Windows 8, the boot BIOS system is replaced by UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), a type of boot which offers greater security as well as faster boot times than BIOS.

UEFI Secure is designed to prevent advanced malware (such as bootkits and rootkits) as well as protect the boot system from other attacks (such as malware that loads unauthorized operating systems). Even so, Windows 8 will continue to work on computers with the traditional BIOS boot system, but for new Windows 8 certified computers, they must incorporate the new boot with the secure boot feature enabled by default.This Secure Boot would prevent booting Linux-based systems or dual booting computers with multiple operating systems.

However, final control rests with the user, as this option can be disabled.

New Passwords

The new version of Windows introduces two types of passwords new; password through photo and a four-digit PIN. These passwords allow us to log in with our user account.

To use the password through image/photo, you have to choose one and draw three gestures on it. The combination of these gestures (circles, straight lines, clicks...) on the image is stored and is what would be used to access it.

Even using this type of password, it is necessary to set a typical password. In the case of the PIN, we can say that it is a faster way to log in, although less creative and fun than the previous option.

Using Windows 8 we can find some procedure that requires entering a password to proceed. An example would be in changing system settings. In this case, the password used would be the traditional one.

Other security measures

In short, with Windows Defender included in the package, SmartScreen updated and acting throughout the system and with the inclusion of new passwords, Windows 8 seems to be the Microsoft operating system that presents the most security measures .

Other components such as the Windows kernel, ASLR... have been updated to help reduce the number of intrusions and the risk of attacks.

We are talking about a complete and secure operating system, until experience shows us otherwise.

Special Windows 8 in depth