Vista User account Control – Improved security in Windows Vista

Today in the age of internet, security is the major subject, which is talked, discussed, shown more concerns in the development of an operating system. Occasionally or daily, there will be news items on internet hacking, spying, phishing, etc. in the major news papers, news magazines etc. The security breach can cause losses in billions of dollars to the company or to the state. Therefore, the operating system developers often keep their focus on security intruders and develop protection mechanisms against such activities. Vista UAC ( User Account Control) is one such feature offered to give better security.

Series of features to protect the system

Windows Vista, the next generation of Windows Operating System, provides a series of features to protect the system from hacking, unauthorized program access, unauthorized installations of programs, phishing, spying etc. User Account Control is one of the security features, which is provided in the Vista operating system, to protect the computer system from performing dangerous activities.

User Account Control

User Account Control helps one to prevent from making unauthorized changes to the system done by some harmful programs. The feature works by, prompting for password and giving messages, before performing actions that could potentially affect the performance of the computer, as a part of security measure. The message should be read carefully, understood properly before continuing. User Access Control prevents malicious software and spywares from getting installed and or making changes to the computer without proper rights.

User account control displays messages for permission

Whenever permission is needed to complete the task or to run a program in the system, the user account control displays one of the following messages to its users. They are,

Windows needs your permission to continueThis message appears to user when a function or a program which can affect the functionality of the computer needs the permission to start.
A Program needs your permission to continue,This message appears whenever a program which is not a part of Windows Vista. It may contain valid digital signature. One should check the digital signature, which contains its name and its publisher’s information, and ensure that the program is the same which was intended by you before allowing the program to continue execution.
An unidentified program wants access to your computer.This message appears on the screen if programs which does not have valid digital signatures. This does not sound dangerous. But, one need to be extra careful while allowing the program to run. Some old programs which lack the digital signature concept will produce this message. One can allow such old programs to run if the program is familiar. Digital signature is composed of a secrete code and a private key, which is used to verify file authenticity.
This program has been blocked.This message flashes on the screen if the administrator has chosen to block the program, because of security reasons. Up on getting this message, one should contact the administrator and ask him to unblock the program. Only then, one will be able to run the program.

Malware, Spyware and phishing

Malware, Spyware and phishing are the three terms which we hear today in the news papers, news magazines, technical magazines etc. whenever, reports of cyber crime are published. Malware is a program which is designed for damaging the computer. For example, Viruses, worms and Trojan Horses are Malware programs. Spyware is program which is developed usually to display advertisement etc. but, collects critical information from the system, internally without user’s knowledge or proper consent of the user. Phishing is the technique, by which the programs provoke users to give out personal details such as user name, password, bank account numbers, credit card numbers and redirects the collected information to a fake site.

Standard user account – safe bet

To be on the safer side, one needs to setup a standard user account, instead of administrator account. One will be able to make use of all most all features in Windows Vista, using standard account. One is also able to get features like surfing the internet, sending emails, using word processor, and like wise applications without logging as an administrator. When one want to perform some administrator tasks such as installing a new program, changing the settings of windows vista such that it affects all users, one need not switch over to log in as an administrator. Windows Vista will prompt the user to provide password before accomplishing the desired task.

Administrator account for advanced users

Administrator account is meant for advanced users. Those users, who login as Administrator, can make changes to the system setting such that, if chosen, applies to all other users also. Administrators can install softwares, add new hardware, and can access all files in the computer. Additionally, they can change security settings. They can also change settings of the other user accounts. When one installs Windows Vista, an account will be created by default. It will prompt for user name and password for the account, during the setup process. This account let one to set up the computer and install any other programs, which one like to use. Once the installation process gets over, any number of standard user accounts can be created. For safety reasons, Microsoft recommends the use of standard user accounts for daily use.

No new software installation without permission

To help protecting the windows Vista computer, one can create a standard user account for each user who shares the computer. When some one who logged in as an standard user, and tries to run a program, Windows will ask the user for administrator permission by the way of prompting for password so that, one will not able to install the software without permission from the administrator.

Safety for computer system from unauthorized users

Creating standard user accounts will ensure that one can easily share the computer. The computer will be safe from unauthorized users. Each person can have his own desired settings and preferences such as desktop background and desktop themes, shortcut icons in the desktop etc. The changes made by the users of standard user account will not be applied to all users in the system or the domain.

Vista with guest account

There is a type of account apart from administrator and standard user accounts. That is, the Guest account. Guest account users don’t have a permanent account on the computer. This account does not allow the user to access the personal files. People who login as guests cannot install programs, add a new hardware, change settings, or create password on their own.
Procedure for creating a standard user account:

If the computer is not on a domain, then, the following steps are used to create standard user account.

Open the User Accounts from control panel.
Start button > Control Panel > User Account and Family Safety > User Accounts.
Open “Manage another account”. If password is asked for confirmation, then provide the administrator password.
Click on “Create a new account”.
Type the name of the account, and select the proper type and click “Create Account” to create the desired account.

If you want to risk security and want to disable uac in vista (Vista User account controls), check out this video. Frankly I don't recommend this.My advice - do not turn off vista uac.