Gray Hat Hacking The Ethical Hacker's Handbook, Fifth Edition, 5th Edition

CHAPTER 13

Windows Exploits

Microsoft Windows is by far the most commonly used operating system, for both professional and personal use, as shown in Figure 13-1. The percentages shown in this figure change often; however, it provides a good sense of the overall OS market share. Windows 7 remains dominant at almost 50 percent of the market, with Windows 10 quickly growing. In terms of general exploitation and hunting for 0-day exploits, it should be relatively clear as to which Windows operating systems you should target. Windows 7 often makes for an easier target in comparison to Windows 10 because certain security features and exploit mitigations are unavailable to Windows 7, such as Control Flow Guard (CFG). Examples of the most notable features ...