<s>
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
is	O
a	O
tool	O
created	O
for	O
the	O
analysis	O
of	O
changes	O
made	O
to	O
the	O
attack	O
surface	O
of	O
the	O
operating	O
systems	O
since	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
beyond	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
the	O
,	O
they	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
an	O
all	O
in	O
one	O
tool	O
for	O
checking	O
the	O
changes	O
made	O
to	O
the	O
attack	O
surface	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
Operating	I-Application
System	I-Application
before	O
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
was	O
developed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
a	O
problem	O
to	O
check	O
and	O
verify	O
the	O
effects	O
of	O
various	O
software	O
installations	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
way	O
back	O
since	O
Windows	B-Application
Server	I-Application
2003	I-Application
was	O
being	O
developed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
,	O
on	O
January	O
18	O
,	O
2011	O
,	O
a	O
beta	O
version	O
(	O
version	O
5.1.3.0	O
)	O
of	O
a	O
tool	O
named	O
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
was	O
released	O
in	O
public	O
for	O
the	O
testers	O
and	O
IT	O
administrators	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
can	O
compare	O
two	O
scan	O
data	O
of	O
a	O
system	O
called	O
the	O
baseline	O
scan	O
and	O
product	O
scan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
32-bit	O
and	O
64-bit	O
versions	O
of	O
software	O
are	O
available	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
(	O
and	O
respective	O
Server	O
editions	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
is	O
all	O
in	O
one	O
tool	O
for	O
analysis	O
of	O
changes	O
made	O
to	O
the	O
various	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
attack	O
surface	O
of	O
Windows	O
6	O
series	O
Operating	O
System	O
(	O
includes	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
this	O
one	O
tool	O
,	O
you	O
can	O
analyze	O
the	O
changes	O
made	O
to	O
the	O
Registry	O
,	O
File	O
permissions	O
,	O
Windows	O
IIS	B-Application
Server	I-Application
,	O
GAC	O
assemblies	O
and	O
a	O
lot	O
more	O
can	O
be	O
done	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
the	O
same	O
tool	O
in	O
use	O
by	O
the	O
engineers	O
of	O
the	O
security	O
team	O
at	O
Microsoft	O
to	O
analyze	O
the	O
effects	O
of	O
software	O
installation	O
on	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
Operating	I-Application
System	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
combines	O
all	O
of	O
them	O
so	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
easier	O
to	O
analyze	O
all	O
parts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
can	O
tell	O
you	O
the	O
changes	O
for	O
sure	O
,	O
in	O
some	O
cases	O
,	O
it	O
will	O
also	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
tell	O
you	O
that	O
a	O
particular	O
change	O
in	O
the	O
configuration	O
is	O
causing	O
a	O
threat	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
now	O
,	O
the	O
tool	O
does	O
not	O
enlist	O
the	O
threats	O
in	O
all	O
the	O
categories	O
(	O
or	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
Operating	O
System	O
)	O
it	O
scans	O
but	O
only	O
a	O
few	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
noticeable	O
of	O
which	O
are	O
the	O
issues	O
in	O
services	O
configurations	O
,	O
File	O
system	O
ACLs	O
and	O
issues	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
processes	B-Operating_System
running	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
also	O
shows	O
the	O
severity	O
of	O
the	O
threats	O
that	O
it	O
finds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
severity	O
of	O
threat	O
caused	O
by	O
“	O
Executables	O
With	O
Weak	O
ACLs	O
”	O
(	O
threat	O
severity	O
of	O
level	O
1	O
)	O
is	O
less	O
than	O
that	O
caused	O
by	O
“	O
Processes	B-Operating_System
With	O
Impersonation	O
Tokens	O
”	O
(	O
threat	O
severity	O
of	O
level	O
2	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
brief	O
description	O
(	O
along	O
with	O
a	O
link	O
to	O
technet	O
library	O
describing	O
the	O
term	O
in	O
detail	O
)	O
of	O
all	O
threats	O
and	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
attack	O
surface	O
are	O
enlisted	O
in	O
the	O
report	O
generated	O
by	O
the	O
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
has	O
made	O
it	O
easy	O
to	O
find	O
the	O
right	O
resource	O
for	O
the	O
term	O
rather	O
than	O
relying	O
upon	O
the	O
web	B-Application
search	I-Application
engines	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Attack	O
Surface	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
Operating	I-Application
System	I-Application
concerns	O
various	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
Operating	O
System	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
makes	O
it	O
easy	O
for	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
browse	O
through	O
the	O
report	O
by	O
listing	O
the	O
threats	O
in	O
categories	O
and	O
providing	O
a	O
Table	O
of	O
contents	O
in	O
an	O
HTML	B-Language
page	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
can	O
compare	O
two	O
scan	O
data	O
(	O
generated	O
by	O
itself	O
on	O
two	O
different	O
scans	O
)	O
and	O
generate	O
a	O
report	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
then	O
be	O
viewed	O
in	O
the	O
HTML	B-Language
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
good	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
Clients	O
because	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
possible	O
to	O
generate	O
report	O
using	O
the	O
current	O
version	O
of	O
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
on	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
such	O
a	O
case	O
,	O
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
run	O
scans	O
on	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
Client	O
,	O
transfer	O
the	O
scan	O
result	O
files	B-General_Concept
to	O
a	O
computer	O
running	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
and	O
then	O
generate	O
and	O
browse	O
the	O
report	O
on	O
the	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
based	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
works	O
on	O
the	O
Windows	O
6.X	O
series	O
of	O
Operating	O
Systems	O
but	O
report	O
generation	O
can	O
only	O
be	O
done	O
on	O
6.1	O
version	O
Operating	O
Systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
are	O
the	O
system	O
requirements	O
of	O
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
(	O
from	O
the	O
official	O
download	O
page	O
)	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
list	O
two	O
types	O
of	O
scans	O
namely	O
baseline	O
scan	O
and	O
product	O
scan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
installation	O
changes	O
the	O
system	O
configuration	O
(	O
possibly	O
)	O
by	O
installing	O
services	O
,	O
changing	O
firewall	O
rules	O
,	O
installing	O
new	O
.NET	B-Application
assemblies	O
and	O
so	O
on	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Baseline	O
scan	O
is	O
a	O
logical	O
scan	O
run	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
using	O
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
that	O
generates	O
the	O
file	O
containing	O
the	O
configuration	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
before	O
this	O
software	O
is	O
installed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
worth	O
a	O
note	O
that	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
system	O
state	O
can	O
be	O
captured	O
using	O
Attack	B-Application
Surface	I-Application
Analyzer	I-Application
and	O
any	O
combination	O
of	O
them	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
the	O
report	O
generation	O
.	O
</s>
