Vista blocks all malware for now

MICROSOFT'S latest operating system is damn good at stopping all malware, for the moment, according to security outfit Symantec.

In several white papers looking at the operating system, Symantec boffins concluded that for now the operating system can stop any malware thrown against it.

Kernel-level rootkits simply couldn't install without getting permission through the user who has to push a lot of allow buttons before it will install.

However, they warned that the operating system was not totally secure and hackers will still work out a way of getting around it.

The white paper says that Vista is not a secure operating system, just a lot more secure than its previous incarnations.

Embarrassingly for Vole, Symantec found that a small percentage of core Vista components hadn't been compiled with all of the available protective technology.

It also says that only the 64-bit version of the software can protect its kernel integrity.

A summary of the report can be found at PC Magazine, here. µ