Microsoft Windows 8 is built around security. From the moment a Windows 8 machine is powered on, integrated security features will protect your business’s IT infrastructure and data.
Security Matters
Because your business depends upon its IT resources to support its primary business functions, you need to know that both your IT systems and the data stored on it are secure. With Windows 8, Microsoft has developed a more secure operating system (OS). From the moment a workstation is powered on, it is protected through a secured boot up process. After boot up, OS implemented security features will continue to protect your computing resources and the data housed on them. Below, we have identified three new or improved Microsoft Windows 8 features that will benefit any business of any size.
Secure Boot will help protect a computer from the moment it powers on. Every time a computer is powered on, it is vulnerable to undetected root kits and other malware that will attack and hijack it before the OS can be loaded. This is a problem because antivirus solutions do not run until the OS is loaded—this means that the malware will remain active and unidentified on the computer. The secure boot feature of Windows 8 is designed to prevent this situation from happening by measuring the boot up process and only allowing signed, verified OS loaders to run during the boot up process. The secure boot feature will work on newer computers that are trusted platform module (TPM) based systems which contain an integrated chip that stores the measurements and signed credentials for the boot up process.
BitLocker has been upgraded for ease of use. BitLocker is a full disk encryption solution that now encrypts incrementally. In earlier versions of Windows which offered BitLocker, when BitLocker was enabled, it was programed to encrypt the entire hard drive all at once, regardless of how much of the drive actually contained data. The encryption process, depending on the size of the hard drive, could take a very long time to complete, which meant that some users would choose to skip the process, leaving the hard drive and its contents unprotected. In Windows 8, BitLocker performs incremental encryption which means that the drive is encrypted only where data is stored. Windows 8 BitLocker encrypts quickly enough that users are less likely to skip the encryption process.
AppLocker is an application that manages permission levels of users and allows them only to access files that match their granted permission levels. By assigning permission levels to users and to files, your business can ensure that accidental data modification and data exposure won’t happen. When AppLocker is used in an Active Directory environment that implements Directory Rights Management Services, security policies can easily be created and automatically enforced across your company’s complete domain as long as Group Policies are in use.
Learn more
To learn more about the new and improved security features available in Windows 8, or to learn about how Windows 8 can be customized to meet your business’s unique IT needs, please contact the Windows 8 experts at All Covered.
