Sandboxie is a proprietary sandbox-based isolation program for 32- and 64-bit Windows NT-based operating systems. It creates a sandbox-like isolated operating environment in which applications can be run or installed without permanently modifying the local or mapped drive. An isolated virtual environment allows controlled testing of untrusted programs and web surfing. Sandboxie can run any Windows application in a virtual sandbox.
This walls off the application from the rest of the system. Malicious software (malware) that tries to install itself, is forced to live in the virtual sandbox rather than the real system. If you run an email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird in a sandbox, then a hole needs to be punched into the sandbox that allows the folder where emails are stored to be persistent. There are visual indicators that an application is running inside a sandbox. You can configure both the title bar and a colored border around the application.
You can define a sandbox for your email program that allows it to update the folder where messages are saved, while other sandboxes, used for other applications, are prevented from updating the same folder. Sandboxes are designed to prevent changes to the underlying system, but not to make it invisible. Programs running in a sandbox can see and read all the files on the computer. Thus malware can run in the sandbox, see sensitive files and send them off to the bad guys before it gets removed when the sandbox is emptied out.
Be the first to comment