[vox] Exploits for non-admin accounts in Windows?

[Gregory Young]

On 23 Mar 2005, at 21:32, Richard Crawford wrote:
> I was told today by the IT manager in our office that if you don't run
> your Windows computer as an administrator, you never need to worry 
> about
> adware and spyware and viruses.  This seems like an awfully fishy claim
> to me, but maybe I'm just over-paranoid.  Am I?
>


Think of it like any Unix or Unix-like OS...  You don't typically log 
in as root.  Adding your daily account to the Local Admins group on 
Windows is like making your regular Unix account UID 0.  You're not 
risking the entire installation, only your own profile or files 
owned/writable by you.

I would request 2 accounts, one for daily use that is a member of 
Domain Users or Local Users, as appropriate, and another account that 
is a member of Local Admins.  Since W2K, Windows has added a new option 
to the contextual menu for executables, "Run As..."  This allows you to 
run things, after authenticating, as a different user.

IAMNA Developer.  Windows, in it's mysterious ways, may require Admin 
access for some development processes.  Consult your Microsoft KB.

Regards,
Greg