GreenBorder

GreenBorder (Sandbox technology)

Hi,

Has anyone tried this tool yet, it´s available for free at the moment (runs only on Win XP SP2). I would like to know your opinion about the product (and about tools like this in general). There is also a report from Keylabs available on the site.

It works by creating a sandbox around IE/Outlook and in the future probably also other software. It does sound interesting but I wonder if it´s something for home users. It´s obvious that anti malware tools will still be needed, but it would be cool if anti malware could still do its job in the sandbox, know what I mean?

http://www.greenborder.com/

 

Nobody is interested in such a product? And nobody has checked it out yet? Can someone explain me why. Yes they do ask for a business email address, otherwise you can´t download it. I´m on a slow machine so I could not test it anyway.

 

Hi Rasheed .
Their customer support will tell you that it is NOT available to you as a home user . ONLY businesses may purchase at this time . Hope that helps

 

Hi Rasheed,

I agree it does seem like a very interesting and useful product. I took the time to DL both pdf data sheets which included an indepenently written test and report.

From what i read it does appear to work as advertised. The fact that it is available for Free to individuals is good news. I havn't had time to DL myself to try it out, but hope to at some point. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has, or is thinking of doing likewise.

I did some research into this kind of approach to prevention, and found this which i have heard of before and has been written about on wilders.

.

Sandboxie

On the other hand, you may want to run your Web browser inside the sandbox most of the time. This way any incoming, unsolicited software (spyware, malware and the like) that you download, is trapped in the sandbox. Changes made to your list of Favorites or Bookmarks, hijacking of your preferred start page, new and unwanted icons on your desktop -- all these, and more, are trapped in and bound to the sandbox.

You could also try a new toolbar add-on, browser extension or just about any kind of software. If you don't like it, you throw away the sandbox, and start again with a fresh sandbox. On the other hand, if you do like the new piece of software, you can re-install it outside the sandbox so it becomes a permanent part of your system.

Sandboxie intercepts changes to both your files and registry settings, making it virtually impossible for any software to reach outside the sandbox.

Sandboxie traps cached browser items into the sandbox as a by-product of normal operation, so when you throw away the sandbox, all the history records and other side-effects of your browsing disappear as well.

Download Sandboxie and give it a try.

The Alternative
Sandboxie is free so you really don't have to look around for an alternative. If you find it makes your Web experience that much safer, you are encouraged to register the program for a small fee. However, if you still don't like or can't use Sandboxie for whatever reason, here are some alternatives.

Anti-Virus Software, Anti-Spyware Tools

These tools scan your computer files and registry settings looking for known viruses and unsolicited software (spyware). Such tools can only remove viruses and spyware they can identify, and usually only after that software has made its way into your computer. Contrast this with the Sandboxie approach, which keeps the viruses and spyware trapped in the sandbox, and makes them disappear when you throw away the sandbox.

Untrusted Browsing

The ActiveX mechanism lets Web sites run little programs in your computer. These are mostly well-natured programs, for example automatic download managers or automatic toolbar installation. Some not-so-well-natured Web sites use this mechanism to install spyware into your computer. You could browse with ActiveX disabled (by turning it off, or by switching to a browser that doesn't offer support for ActiveX), but you would be trading security over functionality. With Sandboxie, you can keep ActiveX turned on, and have both security and functionality.

Requirements
Sandboxie can be installed on Microsoft (R) Windows XP and Windows 2000.

Sandboxie version 1.85 503kb Zip 241kb
Released 14 May 2005.

http://www.sandboxie.com


StevieO

 

Hi,

Thanks for the comments, I hope someone will check the app out. But I do not think it´s exactly the same as First Defense ISR, that´s just a backup-restore solution right? And it appears to be sort of like a much more powerful version of SandboxIE.

The only problem that I see with this technology, is that every (legitimate) action that you take (like adding favorites, saving audio/video, pics) is trapped in the sandbox, while of course it´s main purpose is to keep malware from compromising your system.

So you would not want to run in a sandbox environment all the time, but it does make sense that if you want to download/install potentially malicious files, or visit hostile sites, to do it in the sandbox.

But how will you know that those files or sites are really dangerous? You will still have to get feedback from your anti malware tools, so I do hope that they are able to run in the sandbox. If it works this way, it sounds like a nice tool, almost a must have if you´re somewhat paranoid.