Sophos has revealed that Windows 7 with its User Account Control (UAC) in the default configuration and no anti-virus software installed is vulnerable to 7 out of 10 sample viruses.

Although Microsoft strongly recommend the use of anti-virus software, this experiment proves that the improved User Account Control (UAC) features built into Windows 7 are not enough.

UAC stopped only one example (from ten malware samples that arrived in Sophos’s labs on 22 October) that would otherwise have infected the PC. It was a strain of autorun malware (called Autorun-ATK by Sophos).

Thankfully there are a number of free-of-charge anti-virus packages from the likes of AVG, Comodo, Avast and Avira, along with Microsoft’s home-grown Microsoft Security Essentials freeware anti-malware scanner.

UAC debuted in Windows Vista as a technology designed to prompt users for permission before allowing applications to run. Widely criticised as annoying, Microsoft released a less intrusive version of the software with Windows 7.

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Naked Win 7 still vulnerable to most viruses