Symantec gave a heads up concerning the hacking of Windows Vista kernel just last week. And it seems that they knew what they were talking about. A non-disclosure agreement between Authentium and Microsoft is all that stands in the way of Palm Beach Gardens-based security developer, disclosing intimate details involving their experience with PatchGuard. Well, according to CTO Helmuth Feericks, Authentium has hacked the Kernel Patch Protection.

"Patchguard is not a very useable or useful solution. It is only going to make the life of the good guys harder and help the bad guys. When it detects a bad guy it will leave your machine in an unusable state probably forcing you to reinstall the system to use it again. The promises Microsoft has made about Patchguard do not solve any problems for us and by the time they deliver will not be of any use to us. This is assuming that if they deliver something to help anybody, it will actually be something usable," reads an entry on the Authentium Virus Blog.

Feericks claims that Authentium's own software is installed after bypassing PatchGuard, following which, the kernel's patch protection is simply reinstated. According to reports, the technology has been made an integer part of Authentium's ESP Enterprise Platform.

"It will allow an unfair advantage to Microsoft when competing with the security vendors as they can and will most likely bypass Patchguard for their own products and will not allow their competition to do the same," added Authentium.

Well, now Authentium has its own way of circumventing PatchGuard. But what good will it do. Microsoft has constructed PatchGuard in such a manner that it can be patched, updated and upgraded. This makes any hacking just a temporary either malicious attack or security solution. A simple security bulletin from the Redmond Company could make Authentium's hack a thing of the past.