ArsTechnica discusses the controversial User Account Control of the upcoming Windows Vista. Another criticism has been levied this weekend by James Bannan of APC Magazine. Bannan points out that after you give an application approval to run under UAC, it can, well, change stuff. This is by design, of course, but Bannan's specific worry is that it is possible to then turn off UAC entirely. A malicious program could, after receiving approval from the user (of course), then modify the system and prevent UAC from operating. While Brannan talks about third party tools such as "TweakVista," he misses the fact that you can disable UAC from within Windows itself. That is, the ability to disable UAC is not an exploit, but an option in the system. When I see 'UAC' I think of Union Aerospace Corporation in Doom...I wonder if that means cataclysmic events for Vista...
