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Gartner: Vista PatchGuard Changes Will Take Years
Friday, October 20th, 2006
Research firm Gartner on Thursday said that Microsoft’s proposed changes to Windows Vista 
security, particularly plans to create APIs that will let security vendors access some aspects of the operating system kernel, will take years to implement.
Microsoft’s concessions, which were announced last week as part of a multiple move effort to avoid new antitrust charges or fines leveled by the European Union’s Competition Commission, included changes to PatchGuard, technology to deploy in the 64-bit version of Windows Vista that walls off the kernel. PatchGuard is meant to stop malicious code from making changes at the kernel level, and has been touted by Microsoft as a defense against rootkits and other malware.
Security vendors, particularly Symantec and McAfee objected to PatchGuard, and charged that by blocking "kernel hooking" — intercepting Windows’ system calls and modifying the kernel dispatch table — Microsoft was making it impossible for them to implement advanced security techniques. Both companies were blunt in accusing Microsoft of locking down the kernel to stifle rival security products. Gartner: Vista PatchGuard Changes Will Take Years - News by InformationWeek
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