Disabling debug privileges (is it bad)

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to know something. Lets say I disable debug privileges in the local policies for all accounts (including admin).

Security-wise, is that a good or bad thing to do?

And also, would I have any problems with Windows or any applications for that matter?

It's Windows XP Pro that I am planning to do this on.

Thanks.

 

Hello,
If you disable the policies - including admin - you won't be able to use them.
If you disable them without setting any policies - there is little effect to it then.
At best, you will prevent local users from setting their own policies, but that is something you can restrict without disabling your own account privileges.
Of course there could be problems - depending on what you set.
Mrk

 

Mrkvonic, thanks for your reply.

See, I'm trying to figure out if there are any malware/virii or anything similar that rely on Debug Privileges to raise havoc.

And therefore by disabling debug privileges, would I be effectively stopping these kind of threats? (if there even are any).

 

Hello,
Yes, there are several malware that do that.
And yes, you can prevent the attacks - in fact that's pretty much what HIPS programs do.
Mrk

 

Cool! Thanks for the answers Mrkvonic