How will it actually affect CyberLock's functionality if Microsoft denies security programs access to the Windows kernel?
Antivirus software will soon be moved out of the kernel mode in Windows. This change is part of Microsoft's Windows Resiliency Initiative (WRI). Last year, millions of Windows PCs crashed with a blue screen due to a faulty update for Crowdstrike. In the aftermath of the incident, Microsoft held...
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Or did I misunderstand something?
Yeah, apparently Microsoft is trying to create a Windows Endpoint Security Platform (WESP) to replace kernel mode drivers. If they can get this to work, it might actually be a good thing, but there are several obstacles that are going to be difficult to overcome.
First, how are they going to protect the WESP from malware authors? Cybersecurity software has to be able to perform certain admin functions in order to operate properly, and if attackers are able to exploit the WESP, that is much worse than the current issues facing kernel mode drivers, since kernel mode drivers require signing from Microsoft. So maybe in order to access WESP, the binaries need to be signed by Microsoft.
Second, it is the kernel mode driver that provides self-protection, so the WESP will have to provide self-protection as well. And WESP will have to offer a way to intercept process creation so that the cybersecurity software can decide whether or not to let a new process execute or not.
Third, they are going to have to run Microsoft Defender under WESP as well. Think of all of the cybersecurity venders from the last 15-40 years that have provided protection to the Windows operating system, when Microsoft only started to become serious about endpoint security in the last 10 or so years. Also keep in mind, Microsoft does not only rely on Microsoft Defender to protect its own infrastructure, they use third party cybersecurity solutions as well, so I highly doubt they would allow WESP to limit functionality to third party vendors.
There are probably other obstacles, but these are the main ones that come to mind. But if done correctly, WESP might actually be a good thing, and still allow cybersecurity software to perform certain admin functions they need to operate properly.
If I had to guess, kernel mode drivers are going to be around for the foreseeable future, simply because all of these obstacles (and others I did not mention) will have to be resolved before KMDs will be replaced.