Move Over Vista! There's a New Most Secure Windows in Town

Windows Vista is no longer the most secure Windows platform. Security was one of the best new added assets to Vista. And loyal to the saying: "if you've got it, flaunt it," Microsoft certainly applauded its latest Windows iteration as the safest version among the collection of its operating systems. Throughout 2007 in fact, the Redmond company has been relentlessly beating the old drum of Vista security. But this is over, as now Vista has been dethroned. Without a doubt, among the Windows clients, Vista still is top dog, even more so, taking into consideration the advent of Service Pack 1 which RTM'd on February 4, 2008. But when it comes to the server side, there is a new player in town. Also released to manufacturing on February 4, and then launched officially on February 27, Windows Server 2008 is now the most secure version of Windows, at least according to Michael Howard, Senior Security Program Manager in the Security Engineering group at Microsoft.

"Windows Server 2008 has shipped! And a fine product it is, too! Windows Server 2008 is the first Windows Server to go through the full SDL process, making it the most secure version of Windows Server to date. We raised the security bar in Windows Vista, and we REALLY raised the bar in Windows Server 2008. Windows Server 2008 is a prime product example of our ongoing commitment to Trustworthy Computing, and how the company is making good on its commitment to continue to build the most secure computing environment possible. After the Trustworthy Computing commitment was made a few years ago, we've has made great strides in the right direction, and last week's product launch (Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2008) clearly shows that security remains a top priority," Howard stated.

Vista is the first Windows operating system to go through the Software Development Lifecycle. Now, Windows Server 2008 follows in its footsteps, and raises the bar from Windows Server 2003, already an epitome of security among Widows platforms. Microsoft is also delivering the Windows Server 2008 Security Guide, providing guidance, instructions and recommendations for configuring Windows Server 2008 machines of the same Active Directory domain in order to get them as bulletproof as possible.

"While I tend to focus on 'Secure Features' Windows Server 2008 is full of 'Security Features.' Someone asked me for my favorite security features. In no particular order, they are: The various defenses we see in Windows Vista: stack defenses, heap defenses, ASLR, NX etc; Server Core (ok, technically not a security feature, but a critical way to dramatically reduce a server's attack surface); Network Access Protection (NAP); Server and Domain Isolation; Read-Only Domain Controllers and Suite-B crypto support," Howard stated.

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