Summary: By running users under standard, non-admin accounts, IT can prevent a very high percentage of Microsoft vulnerabilities from being exploited.
Link to ZDNet story:
Admin rights key to mitigating vulnerabilities, study shows | ZDNet
I was interested to see this, because I set up 2 accounts on my home laptop in the days of XP, one with Admin rights (but which I only use to install stuff or run Backups) and one non-Admin account that I use day-to-day.
I still do the same in Windows 8, but I have wondered if it was still worth it. According to this study it is.
The only catch is that Avecto, who produced the study, do have an interest in persuading people not to run as Admin all the time, using their products, so they're not exactly independent.
Avecto is a leader in Windows privilege management, helping organizations to deploy secure and compliant desktops and servers.
But given it's pretty easy to set up a Standard account and run without Admin rights most of the time, I'll keep doing it...
My Computer
System One
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- OS
- Windows 8.1, 10