Urgent: Stop the "Security Theater." UAC Needs Parent Process Visibility NOW.

Subject: Urgent: Stop the "Security Theater." UAC Needs Parent Process Visibility NOW.

To the Windows Shell & Security Team,

I am writing to demand a critical rectification in the User Account Control (UAC) design. The current implementation of UAC is not just outdated; it is fundamentally broken and fosters dangerous user habits due to a lack of transparency.

The Core Problem: Context is Everything

Your current design only answers "WHAT is running" (e.g., cmd.exe executing netsh winsock reset), but it deliberately hides "WHO requested it." This obfuscation renders the security prompt useless.

Let me give you a simple analogy:

If someone tells me to "Go home" at night, my reaction depends entirely on the speaker. If it is my father, it is an instruction of care. If it is a stranger in the shadows, it is a threat.

Right now, Windows is that stranger in the dark. It throws a command in my face without identifying the source. When a generic system process requests high privileges, how is a user supposed to distinguish between a legitimate driver update and a malicious script?

The "Safety" Excuse is Invalid

Do not hide behind the excuse that "Parent Process ID (PPID) can be spoofed." Even a potentially spoofable path is infinitely better than a complete blindfold. By hiding the call stack, you are forcing users to play Russian Roulette with their "Yes/No" buttons.

You Are Training Users to Be Vulnerable

Because you refuse to provide the "Source" context, users have learned that they cannot verify the prompt. Consequently, they are conditioned to blindly click "Yes" just to make the annoying window go away. This is Security Theater at its worst. You are not protecting the user; you are confusing them.

The Demand

We are in 2026. The technical barrier to displaying the "Initiating Process" in the UAC dialog is non-existent.

1. Show the Parent Process: Display clearly which application triggered the UAC request (e.g., "Initiated by: Steam.exe").

2. Show the Hierarchy: Give advanced users the option to expand the process tree right there in the dialog.

Stop being lazy. Stop assuming users do not need to know. Give us the information we need to make actual security decisions.

Disappointed and Expecting Change,

A Windows User who refuses to click "Yes" blindly.