The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Microsoft unleashes Windows attack tool

Attack Surface Analyzer explains what apps do to your beautiful Windows installation

Customer Success Testimonial: Recovery is Everything

Developers, developers …. *&^%%!!# developers who break Windows!

That may well be a refrain that motivated Redmond to release a new software tool, Surface Analyzer 1.0, which explains how new apps impact Windows’ ability to repel the various varieties of naughtyware.

Microsoft explains the tool’s powers thusly:

Attack Surface Analyzer looks for classes of security weaknesses Microsoft has seen when applications are installed on the Windows operating system, and it highlights these as issues. The tool also gives an overview of changes to the system that Microsoft considers important to the security of the platform, and it highlights these changes in the attack surface report. Some of the checks performed by the tool include analysis of changed or newly added files, registry keys, services, Microsoft ActiveX controls, listening ports and other parameters that affect a computer's attack surface.

Redmond expects developers will find the new application useful to fine tune their wares before imposing new worries on real, live, end-users. IT departments are also expected to find the tool useful.

The new version of Attack Surface Analyzer is a full 1.0 release, taking the tool out of beta. You can grab it here. ®

Ensure Ease of Recovery with Asigra’s Agentless Software

Anonymous Coward

Re: CRITICAL SECURITY ISSUE: Windows located on computer

"That's why, when I search for "Linux Security" there isn't a single result returned."

Stop using Bing !

11
0

They should have been doing this years ago

Given the complexity of the modern Windows operating system today, such a tool would have probably saved us all a lot of trouble.

10
0

Re: Of course...

Yes, but it's the same principle as Open Source - better to find the weaknesses and fix them, rather than trust that others wont find them.

8
0

More from The Register

 breaking news
NSA PRISM snoop-gate: Won't someone think of the children, wails Apple
10,000 things probed, mostly about missing kids, Alzheimer patients, we're told
 breaking news
NSA PRISM-gate: Relax, GCHQ spooks 'keep us safe', says Cameron
Whatever they are up to, it's all above board, we're told
PRISM snitch claims NSA hacked Chinese targets since 2009
Snowden suddenly looks safer in Hong Kong after revelations
 breaking news
US chief spook: Look, we only want to spy on 6.66 BEELLLION of you
Americans assured they are not in the NSA's sights
Speech-to-text drives motorists to distraction
Will talking to you mean I crash into that car up ahead, Siri?
DHS warns of vulns in hospital medical equipment
Has your doctor's anasthesia machine been hacked?
 breaking news
'BadNews is malware' says outfit that found it
Google says code harmless but Lookout says code base is evolving
Panda-peddlers cuffed for chess gambling gambit
More porridge on the menu for Chinese coders after second offence
 breaking news
Yes, maybe we should keep hackers in the clink for YEARS, mulls EU
Watch out black hats, they just might throw away the key
Microsoft borks botnet takedown in Citadel snafu
Stupid Redmond kicked over our honeypots, wail white hats