What do we know about the security of the new Windows 11 so far?

It appears quite usual (I mean not one a decade anymore) to witness the release of a new operating system from Windows.

The new Windows 11 still lacks many expected features, which were implemented by other vendors, like better homeworking through free choice of mics or cameras, faster Windows update, and others.

But I care mainly about another question – security.

Disclaimer:

Please notice, use all mentioned in this article tools and software are exclusively volunteer. Not an author nor cooltechzone.com don't holds any responsibility for all potentially created problems.

Microsoft claimed Windows 11 more secure than previous versions?

While Microsoft claiming enhanced security of newly released Windows 11 version, there are almost no difference between using Windows 10 and Windows 11 in terms of software security. The biggest difference to previous versions is support and demand of TPM 2.0 chip to secure encryption keys, password and other sensitive information stored in memory,

said David Weston, Director of Enterprise and OS Security

From the list of requirements we know, the main hardware requirement change is TPM 2.0, which should be installed on the target system.

The Trusted Platform Module is a specially designed chip, which could be built-in into your laptop motherboard or externally running device. This chip/device creates protection for all session stored encryption keys, passwords, or other user's information.

By the way, the minimum requirement of TPM 2.0 is the biggest issue for many users tries out Windows 11.

Some resources even claimed that there is a spike in prices for TPM 2.0 modules. We did check it too.

Image source – geizhals.de

As you may see in the picture above, the market price of this particular TPM module jumped at price of 100%. It should not be a big problem for private users if they want to buy it, because it still costs about 25 USD. But I can say if you are going to find some on the stock.

If you know that you have the recent system and perhaps, already have the TPM module installed, you can use the WhyNotWin11 tool to check if your system meets those requirements. Bear in mind, this is not an official Windows checker tool.

 Image source – github.com

But even if your system is not compatible, don't worry. You can create bootable USD or install the system directly, using a specially crafted version of Windows 11 on GitHub of kanetjuh.

Image source – github.com

Windows 11 exploit's the black market situation

It is, to be honest, not yet to see if there are any validated security vulnerabilities for Windows 11. We didn’t found any adequate information about existing vulnerabilities.

For good or bad, all users worldwide can download a new Windows 11 with a cracked key. I personally find it very bad, because this kind of software is the biggest donor of botnet devices.

I also spent some time trying to find any traces of exploits for the new OS or its software, but it was not successful. On one of the Darkweb forums, I found interesting RAT with Windows 11 mentioned in the list of platforms.

Obviously, this threat on the forum was not very reliable since many claims from users about the author's incompetency.

Conclusion

Where new Windows 11 will change the world or not, we are always expecting some old holes covered.

Before any stable situation, we can expect many speculations around Windows 11 topic, so keep calm and wait for an update.

Stay tuned and watch around!