Microsoft hits back over Vista security
16/05/2008 11:00:05
Microsoft has hit back at suggestions the Vista operating system leaves data less secure than its Windows predecessors.
The US software giant responded to claims made last week by Sydney-based security vendor PC Tools, suggesting that "user complacency" was to blame for malware and other infections.
Austin Wilson, director of Windows Client Security Product Management, wrote in a blog post that results published in an April 2008 security intelligence report show that Vista to be "significantly less susceptible to malware than older operating systems".
Microsoft blogger Michael Kleef echoed the claims, citing "poor user behaviour" as a major factor in the creation of any data security risk.
He argued that the number of infections found by a virus vendor does not necessarily imply poor security.
The PC Tools study had discovered 639 Vista users in every 1,000 were suffering from malware infections, compared to 478 for Windows 2003 and 586 for Windows 2000.
Data for the study was gathered from customers using its ThreatFire behavioural detection software.
Get the latest industry news straight to your inbox, click here to sign up
