Security Tip: DropMyRights

Many would know by now with the release of Microsoft Windows Vista, there are added layers of security. One of which, is the User Account Control (UAC) that runs programs with the most minimal privileges to prevent malicious code and viruses from easily gaining administrative powers as you would have to explicitly give permission to them...

However, there is a tool which enables you to emulate that in Windows XP. That tool is aptly named DropMyRights.

The program works by making a shortcut to for example internet Explorer through the DropMyRights Software. It acts like a gateway to your program, running the program, in this case Internet Explorer, with the least amount of privileges, maximising its security.

The difference after using the software might not be noticeable at first. However, when you visit sites which directly uses ActiveX controls or Explorer DLLs, you will find that they won't work anymore unless you give them permission to. It may thwart unknown malicious code exploits. However, there are no guarantees.

After installation of DropMyRights, create a new shortcut to launch Internet Explorer, setting the path like: C:\Installation-path\DropMyRights.exe "c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe"... change the paths to your own program installation paths.

DropMyRights is a free Microsoft tool. You can get it at Microsoft's MSDN website at: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms972827.aspx