GINA versus Winlog On Architecture - Please Help

[madankarmukta]

Hi,

As per as the loopholes in WIndows are concern,"Securi ty" is the major issue that the WIndows has facing ever.If my this understanding is true (Please Correct me if i am wrong)..

Can any One tell me "How the GINA aids in obtaining more security than that of the Winlogon architecture in windows?"

Thanks!

[Nepomuk]

Hi madankarmukta!

First of all a tip for the future: Give links explaining, what you're talking about, if it's not something well known. If you search for "gina" on Google, the first results are NOT links about the Graphical identification and authentication (short: GINA) library, that belongs to the logon procedure of Windows up to XP.

Now, the difference can be seen when you read the Wikipedia articles on GINA and Winlogon. Here are some relevant passages:

In computing, Winlogon is the component of Microsoft Windows operating systems that is responsible for handling the secure attention sequence, loading the user profile on logon, and optionally locking the computer when a screensaver is running (requiring another authentication step). The actual obtainment and verification of user credentials is left to other components.

GINA is a dynamically linked library that is loaded in the context of the Winlogon process when the machine is started. It is responsible for handling the secure attention sequence, typically Control-Alt-Delete, and interacting with the user when this sequence is received. GINA is also responsible for starting initial processes for a user (such as the Windows Shell) when they first log on.

So, to simplify this, GINA is responsible for communicating with the user and Winlogon is responsible for communicating with the system. So, a GINA (not necessarily the one provided by Microsoft) is needed - Winlogon couldn't work without it. It's not a question of "Is it saver with GINA or with Winlogon", but you need both.

There is more detailed information available on Wikipedia and even more indepth information can be found here.

Greetings,
Nepomuk