Sandboxing — What is it?

Have you ever heard of sandboxing?  On occasion, we have used the term in various posts, and wanted to be sure our readers understood what it is.

Sandboxing

As it relates to computer security, sandboxing is opening programs in a secure, isolated area.  This is typically done when a program is unknown, meaning it is uncertain if the program is safe or malicious.  These programs are “sandboxed”, in case they are malicious.  If they happen to be malicious, the infection can be contained without spreading to the user’s PC.

Many computer users do not utilize this security measure.  Many don’t need to, because their security solution does it for them.  The PC Matic malware research team sandboxes unknown files to be tested, therefore PC Matic customers do not need to do so.  However, if users would like to sandbox any files, a downloadable program can be found at https://www.sandboxie.com/.

Hopefully, this helps users understand the term.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to drop a comment below.

 

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