Doing that requires hardware-based virtualization features, and enough horsepower that you won’t notice the drag on performance. VBS runs Windows on top of a hypervisor, which can then use the same techniques that keep guest operating systems apart to create secure spaces that are isolated from the main OS. This is because Virtualization Based Security ( VBS) has become a keystone concept in Microsoft’s approach to security. In practice that means it requires an 8th generation Intel processor, an AMD Zen 2, or a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8180. Three of the new OS’s hardware requirements play major, interlocking roles in security: All hail the hypervisorĪt a minimum, Windows 11 requires a 64-bit, 1 GHz processor with virtualization extensions and at least two cores, and HVCI-compatible drivers. Moore’s Law and the enormous Windows install base mean that yesterday’s stringent hardware requirements will rapidly turn into today’s minimum spec. In reality the hardware requirements will only seem exacting for a short period. In effect, Microsoft is making its existing Secured-core PC standards the new baseline, so that a range of technologies that are optional in Windows 10 are mandatory, or on by default, in Windows 11. Microsoft’s latest OS sets a high bar for hardware, with the aim of creating a secure platform for all that’s layered on top of it. If you’ve read anything about Windows 11 it’s probably that it will only run on “new” computers. I spoke to Malwarebytes’ Windows experts Alex Smith and Charles Oppermann to understand what’s changed in Windows 11 and what impact it could have on security. One of those things will be whether or not Windows 11 makes them safer and more secure. The requirements and considerations of each organization will be different, and many things will inform the decisions they make about whether to stick or twist.

Windows 11, the latest operating system (OS) from Microsoft, launches today, and organizations have begun asking themselves when and if they should upgrade from Windows 10 or older versions.

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