Something Windows Vista Parental Controls cannot protect against

Howdy from RSA in San Francisco - I just got here, and I have a talk tomorrow morning @ 9AM about Windows Vista Security Engineering.

Now to the topic of this post.

One of my favorite features in Windows Vista is Parental Controls. I like the feature because my 5 year old son, Blake, loves to use the computer but I really don't want him using the computer too much, because he gets that glazed-over-eyes look. You know the look! So I limit his use to between 4PM and 7PM during the week, which basically means he can't use it before school.

The other day (a Saturday) he wanted to use the computer, and my wife had asked me to lock him out because he'd hit his sister, or something. So I tweaked the Parental Controls policy to block out Saturday. He came to me asking if he could use the computer because he couldn't logon. I said, No, because he'd hit his kid sister, or something.

I went to go about my own business, and came back fifteen minutes later to see that Blake had opened the computer case and, with screwdriver in hand, was trying to "fix things, daddy" so he could access the computer!

I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or be proud that my son wasn't going to be held back by some stinkin' software policy! :-)