Questions About Sandbox

Hey guys! Just got my hands on Avast! Internet Security and am curious about sandboxing and/or safe zone.

So, browsing the web in sandbox mode essentially keeps my PC from being infected from anything malicious I may access through the browser, right? In that case, what, if any, are the cons of browsing in sandbox mode? Is there an increased possibility of the data I’m putting in being monitored (even by the Avast! program itself)?

I’m just trying to figure out if there’s any downside to browsing in sandbox. If I contract some form of malware or spyware while sandboxing and at some point run my browser OUTSIDE of the sandbox, will those infections spill over into the rest of my PC, or can a sandboxed browser not contract said malware/spyware to begin with?

Yes, that is the intention. To shield the system from weaknesses that come with…most commonly, browsers, or other “Internet facing” applications.

Well, it uses more resources (if only a little) than if you ran something normally, so if you are resource-strapped, that is something to consider. Potential conflict with other sandoxing applications, if you have any others installed and use them, it can be problematic to run a sandbox-within-a-sandbox.

There are other weird little odds and ends that bother some people but not others, i.e. if I remember right, some people like to save downloaded files to other places than the default Downloads folder, but you cant do that when sandboxed.

Not at all, the opposite really, it makes that harder.

edit: you mentioned SafeZone, I forgot that…it is the opposite of the normal sandbox. Normal Sandbox stops something that attacks the browser from getting at the System…SafeZone is to protect your data, mainly confidential data used for financial transactions, from an infection you (or Avast!) might not even know is there It is not for everyday browsing, because its function are really limited, in order to make it safe as possible.

Thank you for the informative reply! And that puts me at ease, too. I suppose there’s not much reason for me not to run my browser in Sandbox in that case.

Out of curiosity, what -would- happen if malware/spyware/some sort of virus attacked my browser and I ran it outside of sandbox mode? I don’t intend to do that, but it would be nice to know if it’ll mess things up or not.

Not quite catching what you mean.

Do you mean if your browser got attacked while sandboxed and the malware escaped?

Or what would happen if your browser got attacked normally vs. sandboxed?

I’m referring to if my browser got attacked while sandboxed. Basically if I load my browser without it being in sandbox after that, would it then infect my computer somehow?

Nope. The sandboxed browser is actually a copy of the real one. So your original should remain unaffected.

I got attacked by a rouge anti-virus while sandboxed a while back, and though Avast! failed to detect it and block it, after closing the sandboxed browser, and running many scans with many tools, there was nothing to find, it all stayed and died in the sandbox.

That’s good to know. Thanks again for patiently answering all my questions!

Np, patience is only required for dealing with angry people.

Pleasure to help. :wink: