Sixth day of the Ghacks Christmas Giveaway. We have handed out licenses to some very popular software appplications such as Newsbin Pro, MediaMonkey Gold or Kaspersky Internet Security in the last days. Today’s application is Sandboxie, a security software program that can run selected applications in a closed environment on the computer. Sandboxie is compatible with 32-bit editions of Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows Server 2003 and can also be run on Windows 2000.
The software developer is providing access to a free version of Sandboxie on his website which has a few limitations compared to the commercial version.
As the name suggests Sandboxie makes use of the concept of so called sandboxes (also called virtual environments by some). The main advantage of running applications in a sandbox is that everything that happens in there stays in there. If you land on a website that uses a 0-day browser exploit to download and launch malicious code on your computer you can rest assured that the rest of the system – that is the part outside of the sandbox – will not be affected by the virus. And the sandbox itself can simply be cleared so that the malicious software has no means of affecting the computer system.
To make it even more visual: Sandboxie acts as a border that is impenetrable for applications that get started inside. Many of these applications usually interact with other system components, say a web browser that is storing cache on the hard drive or storing new bookmarks on the computer. Every attempt to interact with the computer system will be intercepted by Sandboxie and emulated so that the application “thinks” that everything is ok.
These changes on the other hand are not permanently and once the application or the sandbox have been terminated they are gone. But don’t worry: Sandboxie is still providing the means to save data that has been created or downloaded into the sandbox. Think of a document that you are downloading from a website, you might want to keep it even after the browser session closes.
It is possible to configure resource access rights for files running in the sandbox. These are left blank on purpose by default but it would be possible to allow the web browser Firefox to access its bookmarks file directly so that bookmarks get stored permanently. (There is an option in Sandboxie’s settings that allows direct access to the bookmarks of Opera, Firefox and Internet Explorer and another setting for email clients.
The installation runs through without problems or user interaction. The system is ready to run applications in the sandbox right after installation. Sandboxie integrates itself in the right-click context menu (Run Sandboxed) and it is also possible to drag and drop applications into the program interface to run them sandboxed.
The control interface is listing the programs that are running in the sandbox. This is helpful because there is virtually no way of telling if it is running in a Sandbox by looking at the program window.
The commercial version of Sandboxie introduces several interesting and helpful features. It makes it possible to run multiple sandboxes on a computer system. This can be useful to launch set of tools in different sandboxes which is great to isolate programs further.
The Forced Folders and Forced Programs options become available after registration.
Forced Folders:
This options allows you to select folders (this can also be a drive letter) and force all applications starting from there to run in sandboxed mode. Some useful applications for this are CD / DVD drives or a downloads folder for Internet downloads.
Forced Programs:
Allows the user to select files that should always be run in sandboxed mode. This is very useful to make sure that an application is always running in the sandbox without having to launch it that way at every program start.
The developer of Sandboxie was nice enough to give us six licenses of his security software program. You should know the drill by know. Just leave a comment letting us know what you think / like about the program and you are eligible to win a copy of it.
Related posts:
Ghacks Christmas Giveaway: Returnil PremiumGhacks Christmas Giveaway: Direct Access
A Sandbox for Applications
Ghacks Christmas Giveaway: USB Safely Remove
Ghacks Christmas Giveaway: Do-Organizer And TexNotes Pro
I don’t want to miss this one.
Amazing programme, the last thing I tried similar to that is a virtual PC and that still isn’t as close to as Sandboxie in features!
Would be nice to try it again. :-)
wabbit says:
I’ve been testing this application for a month or so now, and it’s dynamite! Keeps the PC’s HD and registry pristine. One thing that it doesn’t do well though (or perhaps my current version?) is handle DragNDrop operations to sandboxed applications from non-sandboxed folders/files.
Great application, worth registering for the extra perks, but the free version works very well!
Wabbit you have to allow Resource acces-file acces(full file acces).It will do the trick in most cases.I found this myself with nero express where i ‘m still not able to drag&drop ,but with all other apps is working.It will probably require registry acees also but i don’t know the keys.
I use the software for a long time (free version). nice peace!
nice prize.
I’ve been using Sandboxie for a while now (free version), and love using it to help see what changes viruses and malware make to a system. It’s a great forensic utility, and can be used to keep you safe. I’d love to win a copy of the full version :D
i am using free version of sandboxie, but want to use full version
Incredible 108 Comments + already… I am so pleased to see so many people in such few hours that use such a great program… With programs like this we might finaly win the war against all those exploits on the internet and finally have a World Wide Web where it’s a network of usefull information and not a spiders trap… Well good luck to all on the 6 licence draw… I would love to win but hey we never know… good luck to all and season greetings to all..
I use the free version
A useful tool indeed. I use at home a gived away Returnil copy, which is really good and allows to do everything without any risk. But this one may be more useful for quick tests because it doesn’t requires a reboot to revert back to normal state.
Still, it works well. I checked the changed files after I’ve opened a sandboxed firefox, and I see all the changes in the sandbox. I tried the test with notepad and create a new file, it works. Same for regedit, no trace left in the real computer. I don’t know if an antivirus would complain, but spyware terminator nor clamwin nor spybot don’t complain.
The sandbox control takes 12Mb in memory, but the service takes only 2 Mb. That’s appreciated.
Next step would be to test with a rootkit, but I don’t have any.
Definitely a good software.
Do you have still a copy of the license?
In (the sandbox) ! Thanx
Do you have still licenses? If you have, please gimme that! ^^
Sandboxie is very useful program.
many pc users are using, you must have it.
thanks so good news. i hope to get it.
Nice
not only very useful for browsing high risked sites (think of porn or searching for cracks/serials/keygens), also great for running those dirty keygens sandboxed or trying out software (think of all the installs and uninstalls before you finally find the one to meet your measures)!
a piece of software that no pc should be without
I’m sure sandboxie will prove beneficial in my line of work as a computer technician. Wish i could get one.
A nice program,I wish for Santa to send me A license so I can drive this thing legally!
Thank You!
I use Sandboxie whenever I want to visit a malicious website, to do malware analysis. Sandboxie is a simple, user-friendly, and nifty tool when it comes to virtualize applications. I hope to get the full version.
Soon I’ll write a full review about it in my blog.
Thanks,
http://extremesecurity.blogspot.com
I can’t surf the web without it.
yep
I have been interested in this program for a long time but would like to have the features in the full version.
It would be an invaluable aid in the battle to protect my computer from the huge array of malware that, unfortunately plagues the Internet
I’m new to using Sandboxie but so far I love it and it’s the only way to surf the web and be safe. I hope to have a full version shortly.