One of the latest updates found on Windows Vista is Service Hardening.

Why do you think Microsoft wants to stress so much on service hardening in Windows Vista?

Well, do you ever heard of Windows XP’s Buffer Overflow Exploitation in Plug and Play service?

That is only one of the Windows services that facing vulnerability attacks because previous versions on Windows enabled alot of non-essential services by default. Windows services are notoriously vulnerable to attacks.

Windows security could be compromised due to these attacks.

1. Backdoors could be planted on your systems, allowing intruders to access anytime they want.
2. Your Windows system could also be turned into a zombie, a term given to hijacked system which do whatever bad things it was instructed to do, including
   1. sending spams,
   2. storing pornography materials and
   3. password stealing.
3. Your system will become less stable, performance will be affected.

All the above attacks make, or I would say, force Microsoft to do “service hardening” in Windows Vista, the latest version of Windows. Alot of services, especially those non-essential ones, are disable by default. Bookmark this site for more latest Windows Vista Updates coming up.

Till then, happy windows-updating…. Additional information please read here