Windows 8 Security Enhancements - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good:

 
1. Something is Better Than Nothing
Windows Defender for Windows 8 is certainly better than the old version of Windows Defender, since it contains additional protection.  For someone looking for a base, low-end, free solution that won't try to upsell them to a paid product, it's a good choice.  In fact, it's not even a choice you'd ever necessarily have to make, since it comes installed into Windows 8.  It may use old-school, definitions-based technology, but at least the computer isn't "naked" straight out of the box.  Notably, Microsoft claims it will work alongside other antivirus programs.  We know it works properly alongside Webroot, because we built Webroot to work alongside other antivirus programs and we have tested the interaction ourselves.  Of course, we can't speak for how other antivirus programs will interact with the new version of Defender, but it's Microsoft's intention to allow them to be able to properly co-exist with Defender.
 
2. Windows 8 Archtecture Makes Hijacking Your Boot Sector a Whole Lot Harder
Certain kinds of infections - rootkits - can try to install themselves into your boot sector.  If successful, when you restart the computer, the infection will load itself up simultaneously with the operating system and subvert the integrity of Windows, allowing it to hide itself and maintain administrator-level access.
 
With Windows 8, Microsoft has a "trusted boot" feature that utilizes the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) specifications - a process that uses signed bootloaders that are checked against a certificate prior to loading an operating system.  That means it can tell when a bootloader isn't digitally signed, and it can refuse to run it if it's actually a hidden rootkit.
 
3. Early Launch Anti-Malware (ELAM) Technology
Starting in Windows 8, anti-malware software will be allowed to be the first non-Microsoft thing to run in the boot process.  Using certain techniques, some malware could formerly claim that launch position.  Now it's available to anti-malware programs instead.  Microsoft appears to have locked that down with ELAM.
 
4. Odds and Ends
Microsoft has made some improvements to the Windows kernal, and memory addressing.  These improvements close the door on certain attack vectors.
 
The Bad:

 
New Ways to Log In / One Good, One Bad
Although you're still required to have a normal password, Windows 8 now offers you two new ways to log in.  One new way of logging in is with a 4-digit pin, that you can set up if you choose to do so.  I have to tentatively suggest not doing that.  The strength of a four digit numeric pin is trivial when it comes to brute-force attacks, which can be cracked in just minutes.  This doesn't seem like a very good idea, and I'd avoid it unless Microsoft can somehow prove they can stop brute-forcing of the pin in some way. 
 
The other method of logging in takes a page from Android's playbook and allows you to perform a series of three screen-swipe gestures over the top of a picture that you can choose.  This is kind of neat and fun, and it's just as secure if you were doing it on your smartphone.  The gestures are good.  The pin seems bad.

 
The Ugly:

 
Smartscreen Filter for Everyone!
Smartscreen Filter from IE9 is now built into Windows itself.  This removes the old alert telling you you're about to run an executable file and that kind of file could harm your computer (thank goodness / one annoying message down).  But it still replaces it with a different message that comes up if the program is "unrecognized."  Theoretically, this may result in fewer messages of that type and also result in the messages you do receive being messages you actually want to start paying attention to.  This hinges on whether or not Microsoft classifies unknown programs properly and quickly.  Otherwise, there is a good chance this will turn into the next UAC message that just irritates people into disabling what should really be a positive feature.  Time will tell.
 
So, what do you think of the new security features in Windows 8?