Steve Riley, senior program manager for Microsoft Corp.'s security business and technology unit, said Windows Vista will have built-in hardware encryption that will prevent "internal" attacks in case a desktop or laptop is physically stolen.

In most cases, a username and password is required to gain access to a computer although this can be circumvented since most PCs today have built-in security start-up features that hackers can exploit and gain access to data contained in the hard drive.

On a network level, Vista will also have limited user access by default, which Riley refers to as "ordinary user" setting. "If you need administrative privileges, you will be prompted by a pop-up window," he said, discussing Vista's security features in an interview with local reporters.

Improving (or rather restricting) user access is designed to give more control to network administrators while allowing them to set policies on what applications can be run (such as instant messaging or IM) or the level of Internet traffic that can be accessed on individual PCs (such as in the case of peer-to-peer or P2P networks).

"For some organizations, this requires cultural change in using the PC as a business asset and not as an individual asset," Riley said.