In early 2024, the MORSE team explored a new feature known as Administrator Protection (AP) in Windows. They felt it was crucial to share their thoughts on this interesting feature to help others understand how it impacts the Windows security model.
Originally, Windows was designed with the idea that both the computer and the user were the same entity, freely sharing all resources and configurations. This meant that on single-user systems, the user had complete control over the system. Over time, features like user accounts and file access privileges were introduced in later versions of Windows. However, decisions made for compatibility and user experience had negative effects on security.
Windows 1.0 was the first version of Windows released in 1985, designed as a simple 16-bit system. It was followed by Windows 3.11 and then Windows 95, which introduced a more advanced 32-bit system. With the release of Windows NT (later rebranded as Windows 2000), multi-user accounts were introduced with various levels of access and permissions. This marked a shift towards more secure user models.
Windows XP, released in 2001, aimed to unify enterprise and consumer versions of Windows by using a single NT kernel-based platform. It introduced strict user accounts
