Microsoft finally rolled its Vista operating system out the door Tuesday, billing it as its most secure operating system ever, but what are the security features that will really matter to enterprise users?To answer this question, IDG News Service asked Russ Humphries, a senior program manager with the Vista security team, to list the three Vista features that will have the biggest effect. Here’s his list:1) User Account ControlBefore Vista, Windows automatically gave users too much power over their systems, Microsoft has said. With User Account Control (UAC), Windows will require a few extra steps before the user can do things such as install new programs. The feature will make it much easier for corporate administrators to lock down desktops and prevent users, or malicious programs, from messing around with the system or installing unauthorized software. UAC has been one of Vista’s most controversial features, with early testers complaining that they were overwhelmed with pop-up messages warning them about every little change they made to the system. But these warnings will not slow down most enterprise users, because they won’t be installing device drivers or software, Humphries said. “Most corporate users are going to get a corporate image that will have all their applications already installed on the image,” he said. 2) Windows DefenderWith Vista, Microsoft has built a defense against pop-up ads and unwanted spyware right into the operating system. Although Defender has been criticized for not being as effective as commercial products, the fact that it will be so widely deployed is bound to improve things. “Adware is a huge annoyance, a security risk and a bit of a machine hog, ” Humphries said. “This has benefits for home users, small and medium-sized enterprises, and even large organizations.”3) BitLockerThere have been more than 100 million U.S. victims of data breaches over the past two years, according to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. BitLocker aims to prevent the next 100 million from getting hit quite so quickly, by giving corporate users a way to encrypt and password-protect their data. With BitLocker encrypting Vista’s data, a stolen PC doesn’t turn into a front-page data breach story, as was the case with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs last year.BitLocker can also ensure that the operating system hasn’t been tampered with at boot-up time, but customers seem to particularly appreciate the fact that it will help keep their companies out of the newspapers every time a laptop is lost. “I’ve had a lot of thank-yous from our customers,” Humphries said.-Robert McMillan, IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau) Related Links: Microsoft Trumpets Vista Security at Launch Party Microsoft Windows Vista: The OS Has LandedCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content opinion Website spoofing: risks, threats, and mitigation strategies for CIOs In this article, we take a look at how CIOs can tackle website spoofing attacks and the best ways to prevent them. By Yash Mehta Dec 01, 2023 5 mins CIO Cyberattacks Security brandpost Sponsored by Catchpoint Systems Inc. Gain full visibility across the Internet Stack with IPM (Internet Performance Monitoring) Today’s IT systems have more points of failure than ever before. Internet Performance Monitoring provides visibility over external networks and services to mitigate outages. By Neal Weinberg Dec 01, 2023 3 mins IT Operations brandpost Sponsored by Zscaler How customers can save money during periods of economic uncertainty Now is the time to overcome the challenges of perimeter-based architectures and reduce costs with zero trust. By Zscaler Dec 01, 2023 4 mins Security feature LexisNexis rises to the generative AI challenge With generative AI, the legal information services giant faces its most formidable disruptor yet. That’s why CTO Jeff Reihl is embracing and enhancing the technology swiftly to keep in front of the competition. By Paula Rooney Dec 01, 2023 6 mins Generative AI Digital Transformation Cloud Computing Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe