Yesterday, Microsoft confirmed plans to disable half of the firewall features in Windows Vista when this version of the operating system launches later this year.
According to the developer, their latest move stems from the belief that most users do not require all the functionalities of a firewall or can manage settings later on.
Although the firewall system in Windows Vista has comprehensive capabilities to filter incoming and outgoing data, the outgoing information filtering feature will be turned off by default. However, users can activate this feature if they wish.
Microsoft has heavily promoted that the Vista firewall is significantly better than that of Windows XP, with its ability to filter data in and out of the system. Yet now, by default, only the filtering of incoming information is activated, making it completely similar to the firewall system in Windows XP.
The outgoing information filtering feature typically appears in third-party firewall applications such as those from Symantec or ZoneLabs. This is a solution designed to prevent unauthorized applications from accessing the Internet or to stop malware—such as spyware—from sending information outside.
Analyst Peter Pawlak believes that Microsoft has “made a quite reasonable decision” by choosing to disable the outgoing information blocking capability of the firewall in Vista.
This analyst also noted that the reason Microsoft decided to add the feature for filtering data in and out of the Vista firewall is to assist businesses in securing systems when they go beyond the boundaries of the enterprise.
“There must be protective solutions to prevent laptop users from sending data out. The outgoing information blocking feature of the Vista firewall is fully capable of this,” Pawlak asserted.
Meanwhile, Microsoft also allows users to easily access firewall issues. The management feature for filtering incoming data of the Vista firewall will also be quite similar to the system in Windows XP, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed.
However, if users choose to activate the outgoing data filtering feature on the Vista firewall system, they will have to “comply” with the default regulations set within Windows services—Windows System Hardening.
Windows System Hardening is the name of a feature in Windows Vista that prevents critical Windows services from modifying system files, the Windows Registry, or the network, similar to how malware operates to install on the system and make alterations.
Hoàng Dũng
