Windows 11 to implement smartphone-style app permissions

Per Bleeping Computer, Microsoft is introducing smartphone-style app permission prompts to Windows 11, enhancing user control over sensitive data access. This significant security shift aims to provide greater transparency and consent mechanisms for applications interacting with user files, cameras, and microphones on over one billion devices.

The new "Windows Baseline Security Mode" and "User Transparency and Consent" features will prompt users before apps can access sensitive resources or install unwanted software. Similar to mobile operating systems, users will be able to grant or deny permissions and revoke them at any time. Baseline Security Mode will enforce runtime integrity safeguards by default, ensuring only signed apps, services, and drivers can run, though overrides will be possible for specific applications. Logan Iyer, a Windows Platform engineer, stated that users will have clear visibility into which apps access their data and device features, with the ability to revoke access for unrecognized applications.

These changes are part of Microsoft's Secure Future Initiative, launched after a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report deemed the company's security culture "inadequate" following a significant breach. The initiative also includes securing Entra ID sign-ins, disabling ActiveX controls, and blocking legacy authentication for file access. The enhanced transparency and consent controls aim to raise the security and privacy bar on Windows, giving users more confidence in how their data and system are accessed.

Source: Bleeping Computer