Live PCs can be added easily to the application. The labs section on the MokaFive website lists dozens of potential Live PCs ranging from various MS-DOS versions, Linux distributions to gaming systems and applications. One of the most popular Live PCs is the Fearless browser which is a hardened browsing suite that provides anonymization and security.

The core benefit of running the MokaFive Player is that it is dead easy to use. All it takes is to either start one of the Live PCs that ship with the product or download an additional Live PC from the website. It does not take more than a few clicks to work with a virtual PC system.

The system virtualization software adds a few new features to VMWare Player including:

• Seamless updates of virtual machines. In MokaFive LivePC Engine, users are subscribed to a LivePC so they automatically receive all updates. Updates are sent through an RSS feed that the LivePC subscribes to.
• Streaming and caching of virtual machine images. MokaFive LivePC Engine will stream virtual machine images over the network so you don’t need to download the entire image before starting. It will also cache the image locally so you can work disconnected.
• Integrated backup. When using MokaFive LivePC Engine on a portable device, it will keep a backup so if you lose your portable device, you won’t lose your data.
• Hardware-accelerated 3D graphics support. MokaFive LivePC Engine includes support for DirectX 8 and 9 3D programs. The host graphics adapter is exposed to the guest operating system as a mokzzile 3D accelerator so DirectX applications can run at nearly full speed. Many games exhibit strange behavior such as slow timing in Call of Duty 4.
• Zero install (needs administrative rights) when running from a USB drive. When plugging into a host that does not have MokaFive installed, MokaFive LivePC Engine will dynamically install itself, and then uninstall itself after unplugging.

MokaFive Player is an excellent easy to use system virtualizations solution.

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Although the promotion is only running today users who download the virtualization software have seven days to install it and are still eligible to use it freely. The registration key will be send to the email address entered during registration and is good for one year of free updates.

Zonealarm Forcefield is compatible to Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7 as well as Mozilla Firefox 2 and Firefox 3. No Opera support in sight unfortunately though.

ZoneAlarm Forcefield adds a toolbar to the browser which thankfully can be shortened so that the icons only appear in the statubs bar and are thus less obtrusive.

Features:

• Browser Threat Immunity
• Keylogger & Screengrabber Jamming
• Anti-Phishing
• Spy Site Blocking
• On-The-Fly Encryption
• Website Safety Check

Unlike the other two virtualization software programs ZoneAlarm Forcefield virtualises only the browser and not other applications that connect to the Internet.

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One small example. Downloading an infected file with your web browser or email client will have no negative impact on the core system. The virus will be executed in the virtual space and once that is purged, either manually or by logging off, it vanishes as if it never was executed in first place.

The software virtualization tool SafeSpace comes with a default set of applications that are always run in the sandbox and provides easy means to add additional applications. Besides that several directories, and their subdirectories, are automatically protected as well. This includes the Windows and Program Files directory among others.

SafeSpace protects the files and registry settings of the operating system by virtualizing any changes made by applications running inside SafeSpace. This means that applications can read the real data of Windows and any programs which are installed. But when applications attempt to make any changes to the real data, a virtual copy is created inside SafeSpace and the changes are made to the virtual data instead to prevent any changes from affecting the real data

SafeSpace provides a very clean and easy to use interface that is divided into a Privacy and Application tab basically. The application tab contains those applications that will run in the virtual environment while the Privacy tab contains folders and their status in the environment. Four statuses are available.

• Virtual: Files can be read normally but write processes are virtualized which ensures that the files remain unchanged
• Private: Applications running in the virtual environment can’t access those folders and files stored within.
• Read Only: Files can be read but no write process is allowed.
• Full Control: Gives virtual applications full control over the files in that folder.

When a software gets launched that is listed in the application list of SafeSpace it is specifically marked with a red border. This is a visual sign for the user that the application is running in a virtual environment.

Any file that gets downloaded from a virtual application will also be run in the virtual environment when it is executed even if it is saved in the “real” part of the hard drive.

The software virtualization application comes with another handy feature, a tool to prevent keyloggers for applications in the virtual environment.

Installation was not a problem at all. Just execute it like any other software and restart the computer at the end. Windows XP users need the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0 if they want to run the software virtualization application.

SafeSpace will have created the sandbox after the restart and applications like Firefox or Internet Explorer will automatically run in it.

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All applications running on the system are divided into trusted and untrusted groups. Everything deemed untrustworthy is run in the virtual environment, this includes by default programs like Internet Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, Opera, Firefox, Safari and dozens more. The real beauty of the DefenseWall HIPS concept is that every process started by an untrusted application becomes untrusted as well.

This ensures a minimum amount of user interaction, i.e. popups that ask the user if he wants to trust the application or not. That’s one of the main reasons that those programs are highly unpopular because in their drive to protect the system they lay the burden of decision on the user, and the user, as we all know, is most of the time the biggest security threat of them all..

What is DefenseWall Hips protecting you against ? Basically against everything that is initiated by untrusted applications. It protects against Registry modifications, rootkits, keyloggers, trojans, worms and everything else that would be considered malware.

A new virus for instance downloaded by Internet Explorer can do no harm to the system because it is running in a sandbox. It can actually be terminated with one click of the mouse in the DefenseWall Hips interface. Protection itself is, mostly, policy-based. Thus, DW protects only the sensitive places of the registry as well as file system.

The only responsibility of the user is to add additional applications to the list of untrusted programs which is especially important for applications that have net access. Even if you are using a limited user account instead of an admin account on your computer you will increase the protection of your system because several attack vectors are known to work on this kind of accounts as well.

Folders can also be added to the untrusted group which can be helpful in certain situations. I’m thinking of ftp servers for instance or networks with shared directories.

DefenseWall HIPS runs on all Microsoft operating systems starting with Windows 2000 including Windows XP and Vista. The homepage links to several reviews and comparisons with other HIPS applications, good read if you want to find out more about it first.

As I said earlier ten readers will win a copy of DefenseWall HIPS with one year of free updates and priority support. All you need to do is comment on this article and let me know what you think of this product. Just post your opinion. I will draw the ten lucky ones in 48 hours. I do need to contact you on your email because I need your real name for program registration along with the email.

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Returnil offers an easy way of installing a virtual system on your Windows XP, 2000 or Vista 32-bit operating system. The installation looks like any other software installation except for the fact that have to make the decision if you want to create a virtual partition. The virtual partition is not needed to run Returnil and would only be used to have a save place for saved files and data other than saving those on the Internet or on removable drives.

Once the setup has completed you can turn on system protection which has the effect that all changes to the system will be undone after the next reboot. I was a bit puzzled on how Returnil keeps track of all files and settings to return them to their previous state which is astonishing if you consider that it is only running in RAM.

They answer that question in the faq section vaguely:

There is absolutely no reason to save the entire contents of the System Partition outside of a normal system backup or recovery image. As Returnil does not allow changes to the real System Partition with Protection ON, there is no need to carry the extra baggage of an image except as noted above or in a full-blown testing environment which lab testing software handles quite well.

Pros:

No configuration except turning it on or off
Most user friendly virtual system software
Runs in RAM which speeds up processes
Will undo changes after rebooting the system

Cons:

Software that needs reboots can’t be tested
Permanent changes require a reboot (in the unprotected system)
Deleting data requires a reboot (in the unprotected system)

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PcMag has a great review about the software and offers a download for it as well. Its free for personal use and can be setup with ease. What the software does is the following, it creates a layer for the software that you want to install and emulates the surrounding operating system. Everything the newly installed software does is now done inside this layer and not in your real operating system.

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