Attack Surface Analyzer is the same tool used by Microsoft's internal product teams to catalogue changes made to the operating system by the installation of new software.
Its a Microsoft verification tool to highlight the changes in system state, runtime parameters and securable objects on the Windows operating system. This analysis helps developers, testers and IT professionals identify increases in the attack surface caused by installing applications on a machine.
Attack Surface Analyzer takes a snapshot of your system state before and after the installation of product(s) and displays the changes to a number of key elements of the Windows attack surface. The tool does not analyze a system based on signatures or known vulnerabilities; instead, it looks for classes of security weaknesses as applications are installed on the Windows operating system.
The tool also gives an overview of the changes to the system Microsoft considers important to the security of the platform and highlights these in the attack surface report.
Some of the checks performed by the tool include analysis of changed or newly added files, registry keys, services, ActiveX Controls, listening ports, access control lists and other parameters that affect a computer's attack surface.
This allows:
- Developers to view changes in the attack surface resulting from the introduction of their code on to the Windows platform
- IT Professionals to assess the aggregate Attack Surface change by the installation of an organization's line of business applications
- IT Security Auditors evaluate the risk of a particular piece of software installed on the Windows platform during threat risk reviews
- IT Security Incident Responders to gain a better understanding of the state of a systems security during investigations (if a baseline scan was taken of the system during the deployment phase)
This article was posted by VG in following section: Software.
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our RSS feed or free newsletter to get all new articles directly in your Inbox. Also check out our popular articles and archive to read other interesting articles.
Patrick
is it available on x86 bit laptop?, =|
Kashif Minhaj
Thanks.....:)
VG you moved fb like button.....?
Infamous
Woohoo. Another one. Thank you!
Infamous
Oh, is it only for 64-bit OS?
Haeddy
Nice important software
Venu007
Hai!
Patrick--- you said """is it available on x86 bit laptop?, =|"""
Can u pls send the file or post the file link , because i have pentium 4 32-bit processor
pls thanks in advance
Solomon Lukie
Hi guys, yes we have a x86 (32 bit) version. You can download it from the following URL (which also has a link for x64).
microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=e068c224-9d6d-4bf4-aab8-f7352a5e7d45
Venu007
thanks Solomon Lukie
VG
Thanks Solomon. Link updated. :)
byron
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! and Thank you. Elvis has left the building.