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By default, when the computers connected to the domains, the secure logon feature of Windows 8 is turned off through Group Policy. I mean, you don't have to press ctrl + alt + del before enter the user name and password. Is it worth to enable this function for Windows 8? And why the behavior was changed since Windows 7, where you had to press ctrl + alt + del?

Puzzled
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Is it worth to enable this function for Windows 8?

The added security by enabling it and ensuring that a username/pwd is only passed through the real login screen is always a plus.

And why the behavior was changed since Windows 7, where you had to press ctrl + alt + del?

I don't know if MS ever has said publicly that I'm aware of, but my guess would be because Win8 was designed to be multi-platform for use on computers and tablets. Since most tablets lack a full keyboard it was probably done out of necessity (kind of hard to tell people on a tablet to hit ctrl/alt/del) and still allow you to force it if required.

TheCleaner
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The behavior also was optional in Windows 7 through Group Policy (some people enable it, some don't). The reason this is considered "secure" is because the only process that can respond to this combination is the Winlogon.exe process, which prevents malware from displaying fake prompts and capturing your passwords.

For more information, see this SF topic on the issue.

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Nathan C
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  • In our company the policy "Interactive logon: Do not require CTRL+ALT+DEL" is not defined. And as I see on the explain tab of this policy the behavior was changed for Win8: "Default on domain-computers: Enabled: At least Windows 8 / Disabled: Windows 7 or earlier." – Puzzled Aug 15 '13 at 11:26