An Alternative Weapon - Sandboxie

[Alan]

Prevention is better than cure, I am sure everybody will agree with that. A sandbox is a definite alternative.

Many people protect their PC's by using multiple signature scanners based on anti-viruses, anti-spywares, anti-trojans and anti-rootkits. The cost of this route is going up and up! Gone are the days when you paid for and actually bought an antivirus or an antispyware program, these days everything is subscription.
One of the hidden ‘costs’ is that antivirus and antispyware programs use security layers. So the more security programs you have the more layers you have and the slower your machine will be, not to mention the fact that different security programs do mess with each other.
Now each additional layer you add, increases your protection but by an incremental amount only. A good anti-virus program may offer 80% protection. And adding a good anti-spyware utility may increase this to 85%. The addition of an anti-trojan may take it to 88%.Why? Well this is because today's security products overlap in function much more than they used to. A modern anti-virus program will detect a lot of spyware while a modern spyware program will detect some viruses, worms and trojans as well.
As I have already said, one of the ‘costs’ is performance and the more ‘layers’ or protection you add the more it hammers your processor!
So back to the alternative – a sandbox! The name ‘sandbox’ derives from the Java world where it refers to the highly contained and restricted environment in which Java programs are allowed to run. They are allowed to play in the sandbox but not go outside it. The important part is that while ‘playing’ in the sandbox, the programs have no access to your PC, sounds silly eh? Read on…….
So what happens with sandbox security programs is while browsing or engaging in any computer activity within the sandbox you are totally fenced off from the other parts of your machine. Any files you download are isolated to the sandbox. Just as, any programs that are installed and run, only do so within the sandbox and have no access to your normal files, the Windows operating system or any other part of your PC.
What does this mean? Well, it means that if you get infected by malware while using the sandbox your computer is not infected. Also you can close the sandbox and everything that's inside it is erased including any infections, leaving your PC totally unaffected.
Sandboxing is a good alternative to the masses of antispyware programs, one terrific free ‘sandbox’ being ‘’Sandboxie’ it is light on resources and provides a strong protection.
Now the downside, it can be a little confusing because sandboxing creates a second view of your PC or if you like a second world, so it is possible to get confused and you can think you are surfing in the sandbox when in fact you are not. This confusion is quite obvious with downloaded files. Files in the sandbox are not permanently on your computer unless you move them from the sandbox to your PC. If you close down the sandbox without moving them they are gone! So you really need to be aware of what you are doing if you have a sandbox. Having said all of that, I think its worth a little time to learn how to use a sandbox for the obvious reasons. Prevention IS better than Cure and the resources are not getting hammered.
You can read more and download Sandboxie here.