Windows 7: Popular apps don't bother with Windows defences

Many popular software applications have avoided including security protection mechanisms built into the latest versions of Windows. The omission leaves these applications at greater risk of hacker attack, according to a study by security patching and notification firm Secunia.

Two key security mechanisms in Windows - DEP (Data Execution Prevention) and ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) - are designed to make it hard for hackers to develop reliable exploits even in cases where security bugs are present in Windows applications. DEP, first added to Windows with XP Service Pack 2 in August 2004, is designed to prevent the execution of writable memory. ASLR, which debuted with Vista, further complicates the process of creating reliable exploits.

But the safety mechanisms only come into play in cases where software applications fail to support the security mechanisms. Secunia's study on the most popular non-Microsoft applications installed on Windows users' systems, based on statistics from its PSI security patching tool, shows that the vast majority of 16 popular utilities analysed fail to support either DEP or ASLR.