Windows 7 Security from a UNIX Perspective

UNIX advocates, including me, have long mocked Windows for having a fundamentally insecure computing model. Issues have included the lack of separation of privilege between the user and the TCB, an over-eager willingness to execute code from untrusted sources, and a plethora of buffer overflow vulnerabilities. However, most of these criticisms pertain to Windows XP, a system that is now almost a decade old, or the even older Windows 9X series. Much has changed between Windows XP and Windows 7. This talk will compare and contrast the security of Windows and UNIX, at both technological and cultural levels, with results that may surprise members of both Windows and UNIX communities.