Sandboxie - A Virtual Protection

Sandboxie - http://www.sandboxie.com/ - is a virtual environment security program, unequalled by any.

It is extremely user-friendly, is simple to configure, operates hidden and gives no trouble whatsoever. You never know it is there, similar to an ordinary AV program, but without any heart wrenching pop-ups and alerts.

Any threats which develop are confined to the sandbox and cannot enter your PC system, unless you personally allow them out of the sandbox in some infected download, which you do not virus check before download or running. All threats within the sandbox are eliminated on browser closure.

Unlike every AV available, which rely on ever-increasing data bases and are always out-of-date at the moment of update, Sandboxie does not have a data base and therefore has no problem keeping up with the enthusiastic hackers. There are no updates excepting occasional program changes, which are infrequent.

An AV and FW are still needed to prevent external theft of data and for those infrequent occasions you have to access the web without using Sandboxie.

Whilst it is necessary at times to open my browser unsandboxed, I never surf, it is almost always to trusted sites for a specific purpose. There are no conflicting problems between Sandboxie and an AV or FW.

Do not be put off by the Sandboxie "30 days trial". After 30 days, Sandboxie reverts to a basic free version, which I have been using for many years now with great success.

For the home or personal user, Sandboxie is the ultimate security program. It deals with bugs just a few seconds old as well as older established bugs. They are all restricted to a virtual environment.

Perfection is an impossibility, but Sandboxie comes close and offers a confident means of web surfing without becoming neurotic about baddies and bugs infecting your computer or being nervous about visiting a site.

Over 10 years using Sandboxie and visiting all kinds of risky sites, I have been to Hell and back many times and never had a single serious infection. Sandboxie is impregnable and it is free.

---------- Post added at 21:28 ---------- Previous post was at 20:55 ----------

An additional benefit to me as a Windows XP user is that I have no use for those incessant MS updates that perpetually clogged up my disk space with 1 GB of rubbish. Sandboxie takes care of all the security I have ever needed.

I stopped MS automatic updates bombarding my XP in August 2013 and have never looked back. MS`s public execution of XP on 8 April 2014 meant absolutely nothing to me.

[qasdfdsaq]

Originally Posted by Wittmann

An additional benefit to me as a Windows XP user is that I have no use for those incessant MS updates that perpetually clogged up my disk space with 1 GB of rubbish. Sandboxie takes care of all the security I have ever needed.

I stopped MS automatic updates bombarding my XP in August 2013 and have never looked back. MS`s public execution of XP on 8 April 2014 meant absolutely nothing to me.

If you believe this then you have little or no understanding of PC security whatsoever.

Sandboxie provides absolutely no security against most of the issues Windows Update fixes and I find it both ironic and hypocritical that their slogan is "Trust no program" yet they're expecting you to trust it.

And not only is it useless with anything other than web browsing in a glorified incognito mode, the claim of confining threats to the sandbox environment and restricting everything to a virtual environment is a load of rubbish. In a few minutes mucking around with it I've managed to create persistent drive mappings outside the sandbox from inside the 'protected' browser, share the PC's entire hard drive to the world, as well as access any and all personal data of the user running it. And I'm not even a hacker.

Any web browser's built-in sandboxing architecture is far better than this already. Snake oil IMO.

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

If you believe this then you have little or no understanding of PC security whatsoever.

Sandboxie provides absolutely no security against most of the issues Windows Update fixes and I find it both ironic and hypocritical that their slogan is "Trust no program" yet they're expecting you to trust it.

And not only is it useless with anything other than web browsing in a glorified incognito mode, the claim of confining threats to the sandbox environment and restricting everything to a virtual environment is a load of rubbish. In a few minutes mucking around with it I've managed to create persistent drive mappings outside the sandbox from inside the 'protected' browser, share the PC's entire hard drive to the world, as well as access any and all personal data of the user running it. And I'm not even a hacker.

Any web browser's built-in sandboxing architecture is far better than this already. Snake oil IMO.

Well chum, that is your useless opinion, which makes two of us who know nothing about anything according to your rant eh ? Your knowledge of what Sandboxie actually is and does amounts to a big fat zero. Hopefully some other posters will reply with a more rational view of computers. Your post is an irresponsible joke.

With replies like yours, it is a waste of my time even looking at this thread again, You can think what you like matey, but everything I said is perfectly valid.

Who the hell do you think you are throwing insulting remarks about that I know nothing about PC security, sounds like I know a sight more than you do. From your diatribe it does not seem as if you could half fill a postage stamp up with your self appreciated knowledge.

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Sandboxie provides absolutely no security against most of the issues Windows Update fixes and I find it both ironic and hypocritical that their slogan is "Trust no program" yet they're expecting you to trust it.

And not only is it useless with anything other than web browsing in a glorified incognito mode, the claim of confining threats to the sandbox environment and restricting everything to a virtual environment is a load of rubbish. In a few minutes mucking around with it I've managed to create persistent drive mappings outside the sandbox from inside the 'protected' browser, share the PC's entire hard drive to the world, as well as access any and all personal data of the user running it. And I'm not even a hacker.

Any web browser's built-in sandboxing architecture is far better than this already. Snake oil IMO.

Of course you can fiddle around on your little PC and create whatever you like outside the sandbox from inside. YOU are in the driving seat and have the key to the sandbox door. What a daft thing to say.

Try your blockbusting brilliance in devising a program which when sent to another sandboxed PC has the ability to independently exit the sandbox and reveal all those goodies you so proudly state to the world. Now it is your turn to talk more rubbish, because you cannot do it !

Send your stupid post to the Sandboxie Forum and let some really intelligent users enlighten you on how things work.

I have a good mind to copy your post and submit it to Sandboxie myself. It is the most irresponsible load of rubbish I have ever read on countless Forums and hundreds of posts concerning Sandboxie.

Good luck with your Snake Oil, hope it works for you, I think I will stick with Sandboxie.

[qasdfdsaq]

Originally Posted by Wittmann

Well chum, that is your useless opinion, which makes two of us who know nothing about anything according to your rant eh ? Your knowledge of what Sandboxie actually is and does amounts to a big fat zero. Hopefully some other posters will reply with a more rational view of computers. Your post is an irresponsible joke.

Actually, your post is an irresponsible joke. My knowledge of what Sandboxie does seems to be far greater than yours given that a) I am a qualified IT professional whose job involves securing the computer systems of large organisations and b) I broke it in ten minutes and c) Proved your claims false with a 5 minute Google search.

Who the hell do you think you are throwing insulting remarks about that I know nothing about PC security, sounds like I know a sight more than you do. From your diatribe it does not seem as if you could half fill a postage stamp up with your self appreciated knowledge.

Clearly not.

You're making completely false and irresponsible statements that border on fraudulent claiming levels of protection that are impossible.

Originally Posted by Wittmann

Try your blockbusting brilliance in devising a program which when sent to another sandboxed PC has the ability to independently exit the sandbox and reveal all those goodies you so proudly state to the world. Now it is your turn to talk more rubbish, because you cannot do it !

I already did. As have others:

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/20...t-kernel-bug/1

A privilege escalation vulnerability marked as Important to Critical by Microsoft, the vulnerability was discovered by researchers several months ago but only made public once the patch was released this week. Covering all versions of Windows, the flaw allows for all security measures against exploitation - from sandboxing and kernel segregation through to memory randomisation and user-access control - to be entirely bypassed by flipping just one single bit of the operating system.

After some work we managed to create a reliable exploit for all versions of Windows – dating back as of Windows XP to Windows 10 preview (With SMEP and protections turned on),'

Users of supported Windows releases are advised to update with the KB3036220 patch as soon as possible; those still on unsupported platforms like Windows XP will not receive the patch.

@ qasdfdsaq

Here you are chum, see what the Sandboxie guys think about your stupid and rather dangerous comments.

http://forums.sandboxie.com/phpBB3/v...hp?f=5&t=20827

Curt is on the Sandboxie staff and Bo-Elam is a Sandboxie expert. From their posts, they did not take long to measure you up for size.

Throw a few bricks at them and tell them their program is crap. Make their day.

[mart44]

I'm surprised to see such a derogatory post about Sandboxie. Most articles and posts I've ever read about it say it's a good layer of security to use. Some of these writings being made by people who seem well-qualified to judge the program. Wilders Security Forums have much discussion about Sandboxie as of course does the Sandboxie forum.

I feel I have to say that, technical skills aside, qasdfdsaq's communication skills seem to leave a lot to be desired. There are polite ways of disagreeing without rubbishing a poster's opinions or character. An angry reaction could perhaps have been expected.

It would be good to see the points discussed on the other forums mentioned. Not to see the reactions but so that long-term Sandboxie users like me can assess the merits of what is said by various people.

I have never in 12 years ever seen a derogatory script of any kind concerning Sandboxie. Every single post or article has been exceptionally complimentary.

OK nothing is perfect and that includes Sandboxie, but in terms of PC security there is nothing better available than Sandboxie. Compared to Sandboxie for PC infections, all other AV programs are a complete waste of time and in some paid cases, a waste of money.

[qasdfdsaq]

Originally Posted by Wittmann

@ qasdfdsaq

Here you are chum, see what the Sandboxie guys think about your stupid and rather dangerous comments.

The only stupid and dangerous comments here are yours. If you think me stating the truth is dangerous then you're free to enjoy your security through obscurity but I'm not going to let you spread lies and misinformation around this forum unchallenged.

As for your 'chums', nice try. It's the credibility of your statements here that is in question. Of course the producers of any application is going to try and defend their product, whether it works or not, and will not beat an analysis by an independent third party.

As I stated earlier. I see no evidence any technical review site or competent security expert has ever performed an analysis that backs up your false and unreferenced opinions. Trusting an unproven application to do what it's not supposed to do based on the ignorant assumptions of an anonymous forum post is dangerous and stupid as you like to keep saying.

---------- Post added at 14:12 ---------- Previous post was at 14:00 ----------

Originally Posted by mart44

I'm surprised to see such a derogatory post about Sandboxie. Most articles and posts I've ever read about it say it's a good layer of security to use. Some of these writings being made by people who seem well-qualified to judge the program. Wilders Security Forums have much discussion about Sandboxie as of course does the Sandboxie forum.

There was nothing derogatory about Sandboxie until Wittmann made it that way to deflect his own incompetencies. If you re-read the first line of my first post you'll see it refers specifically to Wittmann's claim that Microsoft's security patches are useless and Sandboxie is an adequate substitute. It is not, and even their own website makes this clear. Sandboxie does not claim it is an 'ultimate security program' that substitutes for all software updates and antivirus. In fact, they specifically claims the exact opposite.

I feel I have to say that, technical skills aside, qasdfdsaq's communication skills seem to leave a lot to be desired. There are polite ways of disagreeing without rubbishing a poster's opinions or character. An angry reaction could perhaps have been expected.

That would be because I'm autistic. Unfortunately the NHS is too broke to provide any useful support and my parents abandoned me as a baby so sorry I couldn't be the model citizen you were hoping for.

It would be good to see the points discussed on the other forums mentioned. Not to see the reactions but so that long-term Sandboxie users like me can assess the merits of what is said by various people.

The points 'discussed' are Wittmann's false and grandiose claims at the top of this thread. I'm not sure where other forums come in to this. Sandboxie did not make those claims, Wittmann did. Sandboxie does what it claims to do.* It does not do what Wittmann claims it does.

Although they should really be a bit clearer about it's weaknesses, i.e. that it cannot protect against anything that's already on your computer, including the entirety of Windows itself

[heero_yuy]

[mart44]

It seems to me that you don't think Sandboxie does what it claims to do, not to any degree.

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

And not only is it useless with anything other than web browsing in a glorified incognito mode, the claim of confining threats to the sandbox environment and restricting everything to a virtual environment is a load of rubbish. In a few minutes mucking around with it I've managed to create persistent drive mappings outside the sandbox from inside the 'protected' browser, share the PC's entire hard drive to the world, as well as access any and all personal data of the user running it. And I'm not even a hacker.

Any web browser's built-in sandboxing architecture is far better than this already. Snake oil IMO.

Me? I'm just an end user who reads a lot and weighs up what people and articles say. That's what most of us end users do before installing and using security software I think. I'm possibly not going to understand explanations of how you put Sandboxie to the test.

That's where other forums come in. Since your own strongly felt opinions seem to go against popular opinion, it would be good to read a debate between many people regarding why you think Sandboxie is a poor security program. It could draw some flak but you seem up to the job. Also, I'm sure the Sandboxie developers would like to know about the vulnerabilities found and the way you found them. They could then say if they thought the test was valid or not and work on improvements if warranted.

Incidentally, I'm running Sandboxie on a fully patched Windows 8.1 system. Since this is the case, might you have the opinion the program is not needed because patches negate the necessity for it? Sandboxie forms part of a layered security approach on my system but with the tirade I might get in saying what the other layers are, it's probably best to remain silent.

Sorry to learn of your autism. If that's what has made your approach to the topic abrasive, I'll try to understand. However, I have seen rudeness in a number of forums over the years, which is why I choose to read more than partake. It just seems to be the way people are anyway on forums sometimes.

[qasdfdsaq]

Originally Posted by mart44

It seems to me that you don't think Sandboxie does what it claims to do, not to any degree.

Me? I'm just an end user who reads a lot and weighs up what people and articles say. That's what most of us end users do before installing and using security software I think. I'm possibly not going to understand explanations of how you put Sandboxie to the test.

Well I apologize if it came out wrong. The "claims" I was referring to in that quote are specifically Wittmann's claims in the OP. Those are not Sandboxie's claims. Sandboxie is a sandbox application. One needs to understand it's scope and its limitations to understand how to use it correctly, rather than just believing some blabber about it being the 'ultimate security application' and 'impregnable'. It specifically mentions protecting web browsers as one of it's strengths on it's own website, which is correct. However, by erasing all changes after each session it is acting like incognito mode. It does not stop viruses exploiting your browser or getting on your computer. It just erases them when you close it down, assuming of course, those viruses don't also carry sandbox escape exploits like the one documented above. Web browsers incidentally do have their own sandboxing built in, and IMO that is more thoroughly tested than Sandboxie's, because they are subject to sustained and targeted attack by experienced experts such as at the pwn2own hacking contests. I haven't seen any such tests for Sandboxie to back up the OP's claims.

That's where other forums come in. Since your own strongly felt opinions seem to go against popular opinion, it would be good to read a debate between many people regarding why you think Sandboxie is a poor security program. It could draw some flak but you seem up to the job. Also, I'm sure the Sandboxie developers would like to know about the vulnerabilities found and the way you found them. They could then say if they thought the test was valid or not and work on improvements if warranted.

I never wanted to get too involved in this to begin with. The sandbox escape I found involves using proprietary, undocumented Microsoft APIs that Sandboxie does not claim to protect or prevent. Pretty much everything they claim is monitored and/or blocked is. But it'd be unreasonable to expect them to have covered every undocumented hole in Windows and that brings me back to the original point - Wittmann's claim that Sandboxie alone negates the need for windows updates or any other antivirus. That's the main problem here.

Incidentally, I'm running Sandboxie on a fully patched Windows 8.1 system. Since this is the case, might you have the opinion the program is not needed because patches negate the necessity for it? Sandboxie forms part of a layered security approach on my system but with the tirade I might get in saying what the other layers are, it's probably best to remain silent.

No, I'm not saying additional security is not needed on a fully patched system. The very nature of patches involves fixing issues that were not previously known before the patch was released. No system is perfect. Pwn2own 2014 proved even the latest fully patched versions of all major browsers and Windows 8.1 itself is still vulnerable. Additional security of your own choice is not a bad thing. Flagrantly boasting about running an OS that's been unpatched for several years claiming it's fully secure because Sandboxie protects against all bugs and threats, like the OP did, is a bad thing. He even later claims 'all other AV programs are a complete waste of time'. That is stupid, and dangerous.

[mart44]

Yes OK ..but in saying that you thought using Sandboxie alone was dangerous, Sandboxie itself got rubbished along the way, when I and many others feel it is a valuable way of keeping malware off the system. Yes, malware might be in the sandbox but it is gone when the sandbox is emptied. A much easier operation than removing malware from the system when no sandbox has been used to browse the Internet, or run trial software in. Therefore, I would class Sandboxie as primary line of defence.

Sandboxie is a well-respected and trusted program. As computer users, we all have to put our trust in something ..or give the whole thing up. I trust Sandboxie but also realise no program is perfect, therefore other measures are in place just in case something is able to jump the sandbox.

How would I have phrased an answer to the OP? something like: I read that Sandboxie can provide a good degree of protection but really think it is best to patch the system and run other layers of security as well. In the unlikely event that the sandbox does get bypassed by malware, there will be other layers of security in place to hopefully catch it.

I don't know if this would have caused the same angry reaction but I hope it wouldn't ..and it gets the opinion across that I think you may mean. Same message but with less chance of an upset. Ah well, there's always chances of misunderstandings when you can't look the other fellow in the eye and qualify what's said as you go along.

@ mart44

Give it up Mart, you are on a loser. Opt out of the argument, it is a waste of time. I have never in 12 years ever seen Sandboxie receive a single bad press, only stacks of praise.

This guy is simply on a one man crusade against the finest security available today on the web. Virtual security in terms of preventing PC infection is to ordinary AV`s what a Rolls Royce is to a one wheel bike. Why this vendetta ? Only he knows that, best to let it go.

Mart, unless your are enjoying your skirmish with this guy, use your Ignore option, I have.

If it's so good, why don't all the major Corporates / institutions with tens of thousands of PCs use it, rather than messing about with weekly patches and expensive Anti-Virus Suites?