Cyberhawk Security Software - public beta

Discussion in 'other anti-malware software' started by wilbertnl, Jan 30, 2006.

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  1. wilbertnl

    wilbertnl Registered Member

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    Cyberhawk Security Software

    I just installed this software and I wonder if anyone else is testing too.
    Steve Bass from pcworld.com writes: Free Cyberhawk promises...

    I didn't find a beta test forum yet, and I hope to share some experience here.
    It looks like this software enables you to create your own behaviour rules (like changes to registry keys)
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2006
  2. metallicakid15

    metallicakid15 Registered Member

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    so its like shadow user?
     
  3. BlueZannetti

    BlueZannetti Registered Member

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    No, not at all.

    From the feature list, sounds a little more like PrevX and similar offerings, although a PrevX user might be able to shed more light on that than I.

    Blue
     
  4. rdsu

    rdsu Registered Member

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    Could be an interesting program if will be very simple as now...

    But it's to yearly to see something...
     
  5. trx34

    trx34 Guest

    It looks interesting. I wonder if it will remain free for home use after it's out of beta though.
     
  6. controler

    controler Guest

    Looks like they recruited some very good talent if you look at the about page.;)

    SonicWall, Webroot ect. people.
     
  7. lol2

    lol2 Guest


    LOL, that's funny because this program could put those others out of business. But I doubt it really will, just a bit of a funny thought. ;)
     
  8. twig

    twig Guest

    If its as good as they say and it can offer all round free protection for the home user then it may put a dint in the firewall/ antivirus/trojan/antispyware / hips/ market
    As they believe it covers all these areas. Its pure simplicity for most users to use. I like it so far.
     
  9. nicM

    nicM nico-nico

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    Thanks wilbertnl :) , I had never heard of this program before, and it does look promising.

    I've installed it lately, the most surprising here is the simplicity. In another hand, I would like to have a more detailed description of the program's features, it seems everything isn't listed in the "rules" panel. For example I've noticed it can sometimes detect when a program does inject code in another, but it doesn't always detect it, and there's no precise description of the blocking abilities in the GUI, neither in the help file: You don't exactly know "what" can be blocked.

    The rules editor is interesting, you can add your own blocking rules.

    A good point is, unlike in the prompt screnshot included in the help file, you get details about the violated rule in the prompts.

    Cheers,
    nicM
     
  10. FatalChaos

    FatalChaos Registered Member

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    Any registry protection, and like someone asked before, will it remain free?
     
  11. nicM

    nicM nico-nico

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    Yes, there's registry protection indeed, autostart entries (start menu HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders\Start Menu, and run keys, plus more, I've not seen everything).

    What is amazing is the rules editor :eek: :

    http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1307/cyberh19nj.jpg




    You can create rules for ALL/some/one programs, about file(s) protection, registry writing, connections listening/creation:

    http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/8261/cyberh38mf.jpg




    In the registry tab, you can add any Key/Value you want!! :D

    http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5245/cyberh41px.jpg



    And you can protect any files/folders you want against write, creation, deletion, etc:

    http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3473/cyberh53tt.jpg



    And you can restrict connections by Port, domain or IP:

    http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/6339/cyberh69ti.jpg



    You get a prompt for each rule violation, with Allow/Deny options, except if the rule is already set with "community protection" rules, that does look like Prevx. So far I think this program is really interesting :D .

    Cheers,
    nicM
     
  12. hollywoodpc

    hollywoodpc Registered Member

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    HOLY CRAP ! Very configurable huh ? Keep us posted on this please
     
  13. wilbertnl

    wilbertnl Registered Member

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    It would be interesting to share custom rules...
    I didn't see a export/import function, though.
    Have to submit a suggestion to the development team, I guess.
     
  14. wilbertnl

    wilbertnl Registered Member

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    nicM, Are you interested in submitting these suggestions to the beta team?
     
  15. nicM

    nicM nico-nico

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    Yep, already done, among other suggestions :)

    Cheers,
    nicM
     
  16. Heco

    Heco Registered Member

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    Thanks nicM for your posts. C'est très sympa!;) I have downloaded and installed the software... no problems so far. I notice it does not pump up on my ressources: good point.
    Cheers,
    Hervé
     
  17. nicM

    nicM nico-nico

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    Merci, y a pas de mal! ;)

    Yes, it's very reasonable on RAM usage, between 7 and 16 Mo for me.

    Cheers,
    nic
     
  18. MikeK

    MikeK Guest

    Sorry for stepping in - I thought though that I could answer some of your questions directly.

    - Cyberhawk will remain free. We intend though to offer a paid-for "Pro" version in the second quarter of 2006. Similar model to what other companies such a Zone Labs have done.

    - The built-in rules are not exposed in the Settings dialog. This was done by choice to further simplify the product. We really want Cyberhawk to be easy to use for everyone, remove clutter, and offer some more advanced features for advanced users. I can see that it didn't take you guys too long to figure the product out. Cool!

    - A lot of effort was done buidling "smarts" which is code that analyzes a process when a rule is triggered to determine how trustworthy the process actually is. The intension here is to cut down the false positives and prevent so called "dialog fatigue" which one experiences with firewalls for example. This is why you may not see Cyberhawk pop an alert dialog in some cases. We continue to work on "smarts" to even further reduce false positives.

    - While we do not yet offer a discussion forum on our web site, it is our plan to get one up and running shortly. Stay tuned (www.novatix.com). We welcome feedback as it will help us enhance the product with guidelines coming directly from actual users.

    Let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to help.

    Mike Kronenberg
    CEO, Novatix Corporation
     
  19. It reminds me a lot of another new product Neoava . As an advanced user there is a lot of flexibility you can add all sorts of rules to be alerted on, from read/write/access to files/folders (number of times), registry, network connections etc..

    In this area it looks like GESWall, Coreforce also.

    Prevx1 isn't as flexible as that, but there's a community aspect, which reminds me of Prevx1, but I don't know how that works here.
     
  20. twig

    twig Guest

    thanks for dropping in and answering any queries MikeK. Does Cyberhawk do all the basics such as firewall etc. If as yet not completely (being beta at this stage) thanks.
     
  21. nicM

    nicM nico-nico

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    Thanks for passing by, Mike :)

    I understand your goal, towards "keeping it simple", but where the presence of default rules is missing is that we can hardly add rules without to know which rules are already running ( though I've submitted a mail on your site about it): we might add overlapping rules about registry, for example.

    Cheers,
    nicM
     
  22. FatalChaos

    FatalChaos Registered Member

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    Just out of curiosity, does this program use hooks like regdefend or polling?
     
  23. wilbertnl

    wilbertnl Registered Member

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    Man, I didn't hear that knock on the door... ;)
    Can I get you a cup of coffee?

    You are welcome, Mike, and we appreciate your entry in this thread.

    It's only recently that I got interested in Host Intrusion Prevention and I have tested a decent amount of your competitors.
    I want to say that Cyberhawk felt right to me immediately after the installation.

    The dialogs are informative and less annoying (and I assume that creating custom rules could have a negative effect on that:) ).

    I would like to get some insight in the pre-defined rules, because it helps me understand better how to create custom rules.
    Maybe advanced users can find these rules on the website, as an example?

    Cyberhawk might intervene without showing popups, correct?
    Is there any optional indication, like change of the noticifation icon or sound?

    I expect that you not only need a dedicated forum for your users, but also a 'rules depot' where advanced users share their rules.
    That reminds me: Import/Export of custom rules!

    Anyway, I'm glad that you stepped in, Mike.
     
  24. This program does look interesting. I wonder how good the free version will be though compared to the soon to be released (payware) pro version? Will it stay as is and the pro version just add a bunch of new stuff? Or will the free version be reduced it what protection it has?

    And here's yet another completely free HIPS program for those who may like free stuff. ;) http://www.wehnus.com/products.pl
     
  25. ftRhodes

    ftRhodes Guest

    So I wonder which program is better then? e.g. provides better and/or greater protection, CyberHawk or this WehnTrust. Both look like decent free apps. Any takers?
     
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