Via ITPRO

SOPHOS, one of the biggest names in computer security did these tests, so they’re worth listening too:

According to one leading security research lab, Windows 7 is vulnerable to an astonishing 8 out of 10 viruses it was exposed to during testing. But wait a minute, just how astonishing is this, really?

Sophos loaded a retail release copy of Windows 7 onto a clean PC, configured it to the system default as far as the User Account Control process was concerned, and failed to install any anti-virus software. OK, so this might be a little unfair you would think, but it does represent the actions of many a person new to the new OS. Microsoft insists it is the most secure version of Windows yet, and ‘ordinary users’ will take the company at its word.

What Sophos did next was less typical, instead of connecting the machine to the Internet and clicking every link under the sun until it was infected up the wazoo, it instead “grabbed the next 10 unique samples that arrived in the SophosLabs feed to see how well the newer, more secure version of Windows and UAC held up” says researcher Chet Wisniewski.

Unsurprisingly, Windows 7 didn’t do too well in fighting off these new threats. Indeed, it only managed to prevent 2 out of those 10 from operating correctly. Wisniewski insists that this just goes to show that his pre-launch warning that the UAC is not fit to protect a PC from malware was indeed correct. While I actually agree with him on this point I’d also argue that any machine that is not running an up to date anti-virus solution is asking for trouble no matter what version of Windows is installed.

I’d be more interested to see that same test performed on the same Windows 7 PC but running different AV solutions, including the new and free Microsoft Security Essentials to be honest. I wonder how far and how many of those 10 viruses would get then?

I wonder if Microsoft will come out fighting against Sophos this time, like it did when XP Mode security came under attack in the summer?