About SecurAble
This "SecurAble" GRC freeware was an outgrowth from several "Security Now!" podcasts with Leo Laporte. These MP3 audio files are freely available for download from GRC's web site in both smaller-sized 16 kbps and higher-quality 64 kbps versions, and textual transcripts of the programs are also available:
grc.com
The following episodes will be of particular interest:
# 66 - Windows Vista Security
# 67 - Kernel Patch Protection
# 71 - SecurAble
What is "SecurAble" ?
Future PC security will increasingly rely upon specific hardware capabilities offered by modern processors:
As Windows makes the painful move from a 32-bit kernel to a new kernel running in 64-bit mode, Microsoft is working to avoid repeating mistakes made during the 32-bit era. Consequently, 64-bit versions of Windows will offer significantly stronger security than was ever available to Windows 32-bit operating systems.
Most modern computer vulnerabilities arise from communications buffers that can be overrun with malicious data. This allows remote attackers to inject their own code into vulnerable computers across the Internet. Modern processors incorporate explicit hardware controls to prevent the mistaken execution of remotely supplied data. This "data execution prevention" (DEP), when available and active, enables the most promising improvement in PC security ever seen.
To improve the performance of systems running "virtual machines" (VMs), modern processors added hardware support to allow securely encapsulated VMs to run at the same speed as non-VM systems. This benefits security by increasing the robustness of, and removing all performance penalties from, the continuous use of virtual machine technology. Since virtual machines allow "supervision" by their hosting environment, this supervision can be used to dramatically increase the system's overall security.
For the reasons described above, these three modern processor characteristics will play an important role in enhancing personal computing security in the future. But it's not readily clear from "outside the box" which features individual systems may contain. So I created this little "SecurAble" utility to allow anyone to quickly and easily determine which of these useful capabilities their system's processor supports.
Note: When running SecurAble, be sure to click on each of the three displayed items to receive additional details about the meaning of the display and the security-related implications of each processor feature. |
