What is your security setup these days?

@ LoneWolf or luciddream, or anyone else who can help me understand...
This is not a challenge or an argument, but a legitimate question.
I am not familiar with Shadow Defender, but it looks like a single-solution program, which makes me wonder, why do you use DW with it, LoneWolf, and why do you use Sandboxie with it, luciddream?
Or, to put it another way, what are SD's limitations or weaknesses that cause you to want to run other very solid protections alongside of it?

 

Excellent question.I was in the process of asking this myself.

 

Shadow Defender is not a single-solution program, it will not prevent malware from doing its dirty work if you do pick up a nasty while in Shadowmode but upon reboot it will restore your system. So for protection between reboots I choose DefenseWall to prevent malware from doing anything harmful, such as a Keylogger or other nasty. Before any banking, shopping or online bill paying I make sure I reboot just to be sure. It's worked like a charm this way now for years.

 

Indeed, restrictions and sandbox is really secure!

 

Then I'd say this feature list from the SD web site is misleading, in particular item #1...

 

No, it does prevent all viruses and malwares, but I think he means, we are all vulnerable to keylogging and stealing info during that period we use it. It is just contained and erased on reboot.

 

Page, I use both programs but for different purposes. Sandboxie for security and Shadow Defender for trying programs or trying changes in the computers to see how they behave afterward.

Security is not the only purpose for using Light virtualization programs like SD. I recommend you tale a look at them, they are a hundred times easier to learn than Sandboxie and for trying programs that don't need a reboot, SD and the ones I used before work great.

Shadow defender and Sandboxie can be used at the same time but in my case, I don't find myself gaining anything if I was to because I force all programs and files that I run. But, for someone using Sandboxies free version, sandboxing the browser in a restricted sandbox under Shadow mode is a gain.

Bo

 

Shadow Defender doesn't prevent malware from running in a system wide virtualization it discards it on reboot in the event you pickup malware along the way.Always start a new Shadow mode session by reboot before any sensitive information is entered to be sure your in a clean virtual environment and your good to go.After your done history tracks and passwords are not saved for your privacy after another reboot.

Defensewall runs programs as untrusted browser etc so even in the event you pickup malware then its theoretically harmless, especially if it needs elevated rights to run it will not get it.Also with defensewall you can stop a Attack and with its rollback feature you can kill registry keys that may have random names that dont belong and so forth.

Adding any of them in combo is a fantastic weapon of killing the chance of any malware.

 

Is there a significant advantage of 3.0 over 2.1?

 

Not really that I can remember other then a tiny bit lighter and no notifier on 2.1 and maybe some small improvements overall.

 

Ok, here's one for the paranoia folks out there...."IF" you have an antikeylogger program running, How do you know that they are not logging your keystrokes, and submitting them to "the cloud", and who knows where they wind up from there? It's kinda like the old Abbot and Costello comedy skit "Who's on first?" Do we really trust antikeylogger programs I am running one-and as far as I know, it's a good one.

 

Block it from connecting to the internet in your router and disable automatic updates in the program. Check your logs to see if it tries to connect anywhere.

 

DefenseWall takes care of my Anti Keylogging, and do I trust Ilya Rabinovich and SoftSphere, yes I do.

I think you mean Abbot and Costello.

 

Yes, I corrected that... it was Abbot and Costello

 

Abbott & Costello.

 

Good point....Isolate it....

 

Getting back to Shadow Defender, and the question of whether or not it prevents viruses and malware...

Since inquiring here, I have 2 yes responses (the SD web site and KelvinW4) and 2 no responses (LoneWolf and Dark Shadow).

 

Isolate everything you can. And for me that process starts when I'm installing the OS and setting up my partitions. Don't allow programs to log your keystrokes to begin with. I came to find I can block keyboard access to every program I have in D+ and still type just fine. In Pidgin Messenger I can't use caps, but that's it. And block internet access to any anti-keylogging app you may have as well. I also block internet access for plugin-container in Firefox, with no ill effects. So whatever info. those addons may be acquiring in guise... aint goin anywhere even if it were the case.

And to answer Page, as several have said SD will restore your system back to it's previous state and wipe the slate clean... but won't stop any data that may have leaked out in the process in the event of a compromise. By the time you reboot significant damage could have been done. So still prudent to have a Sandboxie, Defensewall, HIPS or what have you on hand too.

And also a convenient way to test out new apps, setups, or settings. More convenient than running a VM on a 2'nd box for example, or re-imaging.

 

In my opinion it doesn't. As mentioned earlier, it isn't an anti malware program, it's a quick recovery program. When browsing, SD will do nothing to protect from malware. It will just make the cleanup process easier. For instance, you're browsing and browsing and then get infected with a few virus's or something. This malware is free to run rampant on your computer doing whatever harm it wants, though you don't know it. You then decide you're done for the night and shut down your computer. In the morning when you turn it on, the malware will be gone; and potentially the money in your bank account if you did any banking while infected in the previous session.

Your hdd can still become corrupt/crash and SD won't protect you from that. Imaging is always a must, which is why I decided against using SD.

 

I would say that claim is a bit overzealous, and many a vendor is guilty of that. It certainly will not prevent you from "getting" malware. It can prevent it from "staying" on your box though.

And as stated previously, by the time you reboot a whole slew of damage could already be done.

To me a combo of SD, SBIE and a noid outbound FW/HIPS is the answer. As far as software can take you, anyhow. The real security comes through blood, sweat & toil milling through GP/LP/SRP settings, and trimming all the dead wood from your OS you can possibly spare and plugging the holes left behind.

 

I think you are right on the money. I have uninstalled the antikeylogger program I had running. Just don't trust it. Will look at some of the suggestions you and some others have posted. Thanks for the reply.

 

Page I did respond a page back, post # 29197 thats 29 thousand one hundred and ninety seven and 00 cents.

 

Ah, sorry, I may not have been as clear as I could have been, Dark Shadow.
When I wrote that I had "2 no responses", my meaning was that 2 responses were no. I was not saying that you did not respond.
That clearer, I hope?

 

Oh Sorry page my fault I read wrong.

 

SD doesn't block malware, it doesn't prevent viruses from running but will keep them from making permanent changes to the system since they ll be gone when you reboot the PC. It works sort of like SBIE but without the ability to use restrictions.

By the way, I like the way Lonewolf uses SD along DW. I think using both programs together makes perfect sense since they complement each other very well. I think he gave you a very nice explanation to why he uses both programs at the same time.

Bo