By Steve Ranger, 13 June 2005 14:35
NEWS It will be at least three years before PC security improves to any real extent, according to analyst house Gartner.
Until then IT departments will be playing catch-up, scrambling to deal with PC security vulnerabilities as they appear - a big problem when more than 60 per cent of business-critical information sits on the desktop.
Gartner research vice president Brian Gammage said: "We are playing catch-up. Is it going to get any better? Not really; not for the next three years. After that it will start to get better."
He said there are a number of improvements to security available or on the way, including technologies such as the Trusted Platform Module which can boost PC security by encrypting data. But this is not enabled when shipped, has little operating system support at the moment and, as a result, is ignored by most users.
But Gartner does not expect a significant change in the security model until the mature version of Longhorn is delivered.
Technologies such as Intel's IVT and AMD's Pacifica will create different levels of 'privilege' which will also help improve security. And Intel's LaGrande Technology - along with Microsoft's Next-Generation Secure Computing Base - will also go a long way towards tightening up the architecture, Gartner said.
Until better PC security is available, companies should attempt to standardise hardware and PC images, and lock down the systems as much as possible, Gartner said.
Speaking at Gartner's Midsize Enterprise Summit Gammage said: "If you haven't got your environment under control how can you know what the risks are?"
The analyst house also recommends the deployment of hardware security features as early as possible, even if the supporting software is not ready, as they can always be activated later.
Comments
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1. holderm
Didn't I hear this before? Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP were supposed to be more secure. And the last part, but some hardware before we write the vaporware? It will be obsolete before any software is ever written.
Wait for the first Longhorn bug patch (which still won't be secure) or SE Linux now, hummmm, that's a tough one.
2. Lindsey Rockwell
There has bever been any problems with PC security. I have used PCs since 1996 and I never had any problems with security. Om the other hand I have used only Linux as an operatingsystem on my PCs and I have been Windowsfree since 1997. So Gartner is talking bull as always. How can you trust those market mongers?