Last Update: 8 September 2026 I’ve spent nearly my entire professional career in software security: designing software to prevent abuse by bad actors. I’ve been battling the bad guys for over two decades now, from hunting security bugs in Microsoft Office (I once won an Xbox for finding a vulnerability that allowed malicious clipart takeContinue reading “Security Software – An Overview”
Category Archives: tech
Best Practices for SmartScreen AppRep
Last Updated: September 9, 2026 Last year, I wrote about how Windows integrates SmartScreen Application Reputation to help ensure users have a secure and smooth experience when running downloaded software. tl;dr: When a user runs a downloaded program, Windows/Edge call SmartScreen web-based reputation service. There are four possible outcomes: As a software developer, it’s naturalContinue reading “Best Practices for SmartScreen AppRep”
Defensive Technology: Controlled Folder Access
Most client software’s threat models (e.g. Edge, Chrome) explicitly exclude threats where the local computer was compromised by malware. That’s because, without a trusted computing base, it’s basically impossible to be secure against attackers. This concept was immortalized decades ago in the Ten Immutable Laws of Security: In the intervening years, new technologies (like SecureContinue reading “Defensive Technology: Controlled Folder Access”
Lenovo P1, Gen7: Meh
I’ve been a loyal user of Thinkpads for over twenty-five years now, and I currently own four (with another on loan from Microsoft). In July, the screen on my Lenovo X1 Yoga Gen 6 failed at an inopportune time, and my 8yo broke the screen on my backup (T480S), so I rush-ordered a Lenovo P1Continue reading “Lenovo P1, Gen7: Meh”
Defensive Technology: Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI)
Endpoint security software faces a tough challenge — it needs to be able to rapidly distinguish between desired and unwanted behavior with few false positives and false negatives, and attackers work hard to obfuscate (or cloak) their malicious code to prevent detection by security scanners. To maximize protection, security software wants visibility into attack chainsContinue reading “Defensive Technology: Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI)”