OEMs enable Vista security support
eWeek | at | by Mike
The Redmond, Wash., software maker has persuaded major U.S. computer makersincluding Dell, Gateway and Hewlett-Packardto make default changes at the BIOS level to allow a new Vista security feature called ASLR to work properly.
ASLR, which is used to randomly arrange the positions of key data areas to block hackers from predicting target addresses, was added late in the Vista beta process to make the new operating system more resilient to virus and worm attacks. However, for randomization to be effective, hardware-based DEP/NX (Data Execution Prevention/No Execute) must be enabled by default.