Its monitoring criteria includes optimal operation of antivirus software, personal firewall, as well as the working status of Backup and Restore, Network Access Protection (NAP), User Account Control (UAC), Windows Error Reporting (WER), and Windows Update.

Third-party anti-virus, anti-spyware and personal firewall software vendors primarily register with Security and Maintenance through the WMI provider.

[2] From this research, Microsoft made the decision to include a visible control panel with Windows XP Service Pack 2 that would provide a consolidated view of the most important security features.

Service Pack 2, released in August 2004, includes the first version of Windows Security Center (WSC).

Microsoft countered their claim by asserting that if a piece of malware gains administrative privileges, it need not spoof anything, as it can commit much nastier malicious actions.

[3] WSC in Windows Vista monitors new criteria, such as anti-spyware software, User Account Control, and Internet Explorer security settings.

It was designed to centralize and reduce the number of notifications about the system; as such, it encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer.

[10] The Action Center from Windows 8.1 was renamed to Security and Maintenance, causing confusion for users and IT administrators.