Suppose you are a fan of cybersecurity and computing. In that case, you will surely have heard the term ‘sandboxing’ on occasion, a technique widely used to protect our systems from possible malware attacks in recent decades; computing has had to develop various strategies to stop and stop cybercriminals.
But they always find some way or another to continue their attacks, which is why white hat hackers, those dedicated to protecting the privacy of systems, have been forced to design more daring techniques, as is almost all of the sandbox.
What is a Sandbox?
A Sandbox in computing is a security procedure for the system in which the isolation of one or more programs is executed from the rest of the operating system. Thus, any application that starts within a sandbox can be controlled to avoid possible alterations or unwanted interactions with other elements within the same system.
A sandbox can carry out different isolation characteristics within its usual process, we will mention some of them below: With a sandbox, it is possible to prevent the linking of each program with other devices, incredibly portable memories or external hard drives.
The ability of the program to examine the device where it is hosted is limited. Programs can be developed under the modality of ‘temporary files’, specifying their isolation from the rest of the system.
The disk space allocation you provide prohibits these applications from accessing other disk space that is not directly related to their budget. The bandwidth that is used by such a program can be limited. The sandbox receives its memory within the team space.
Using the sandbox, it will be guaranteed that the environment where the program will be developed will be controlled entirely, creating a digitized version.
What is a sandbox for?
As we mentioned before, a sandbox is used to isolate one or several programs from the rest of the system; this, within the computer environment, serves to execute it in a way that does not create any risk for the rest of the system in question.
This happens when there are suspicions that the isolated program may have some corrupt features.
In the same way, it can be used when the selected program must undergo some evaluation or test of its operation. It might generate some errors if left in normal conditions and given freedom within the system. Having explained this, the sandbox can be used in different situations, such as those detailed below:
Functional Test Implementation
Developers and programmers use the sandbox to conduct numerous tests on the software and codes they are designing. And as a final result, the tested programs will not cause any damage to the operation of the operating system.
Execution of programs downloaded from the web
Some programs can create a security problem within an operating system. Mainly when they are downloaded from the internet; in these cases, the sandbox works effectively. Some examples in this topic are search engines like Google Chrome, Tor, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera, among others. Likewise, programs that make video calls allow viewing downloaded documents or manipulating the device remotely to enter the sandbox.
Launching potentially malicious software
The sandbox security process can be run to launch an application suspected of being untrusted. This may be related to its download source, developer, or description of how it works. Some programs may contain malicious software that can directly affect the device. Some examples we can mention are viruses, Trojans or spyware, among many others. Protect file downloads: In many cases, files that are downloaded over the internet, such as torrents, tend to be at higher risk of containing malware.
For this reason, the sandbox becomes an ideal and recommended process when executing them.
Sandbox in browsers
It is important to note that web browsers usually have their sandbox mechanism, especially applicable in downloads. However, it is known that these are generally affected by security flaws and various vulnerabilities. To avoid complications, implementing a second sandbox is a fairly applied idea to prevent further problems in the system.
Tips to run a Sandbox the following steps must always be taken into consideration when a user wants to isolate a program through a sandbox: The sandbox can be executed by any user, but when it comes to a more complex task, it should be left in the hands of experts.
In the case of operating systems belonging to companies, it is advisable to go this task to specialized IT personnel. This is recommended because any error could trigger different functional problems after execution. Use suitable programs for this task; those recommended are Evalaze, Sandboxie, BufferZone or Browser in the Box.
Also Read: How to Conduct a Successful Phishing Test For Employees
