SurfinGuard

Type of Program: Virus/Trojan/Worm Protection (Known and Unknown)
Supported Platforms: Windows 95/98/NT
Company Name: Finjan Software
Version: 5.0 (Note: New Version scheduled for August will have ActiveX and Win2000 support)
Price: Freeware
Installed Size: 5.49kb

Download/Homepage

FIRST,THE BAD NEWS: A NEW attack technique has surfaced that allows hackers to deliver and install any file on a target computer with NO user interaction other than viewing an infected e-mail or Web page. All Windows 9x/NT/2000 platforms are vulnerable.

Or picture this, an email arrives for you and you think you know who it's from so you click on the attachment. (This is what happened with the recent "I Love You Virus" and it's variants.) One innocent click... and DISASTER. The "I Love You" virus alters files on your computer, distributes itself to any network your computer is attached to, and sends itself to any addresses it can distinguish on your computer. Your virus-checker cannot prevent this from happening if it does not yet contain the code for THIS virus... and new viruses are, well... new... so you are now in SERIOUS trouble because you are not running SurfinGuard.

NOW,THE GOOD NEWS: In the above scenarios SurfinGuard would have prevented the worm/virus/trojan from altering files on your computer, AND from sending itself to your friends and business colleagues. SurfinGuard does not depend on "knowing" the code for individual viruses and Trojans... it runs executables in a "safe-zone" and monitors their behavior for infractions of the security settings you have decided upon. Viewing an email or picture or downloading a letter shouldn't be altering your computer and SurfinGuard will notify you of this strange activity. SurfinGuard doesn't clean or destroy... it simply prevents. If you are sure of yourself... you can go ahead with the process, all that's happened is that SurfinGuard has given you the information you need to make an informed decision about the file. 

SurfinGuard is a REAL security-enhancement. It monitors the behavior of executable files you intentionally (or unintentionally) download while it's running and it notifies you if the executable(s) attempt to do any of the following: - Read and write files within the users file system - Create a network connection - Write to the registry - Initiate additional programs on the users computer

Your virus checker is just not enough! Think about the life-cycle of a virus/trojan... time passes before it is identified, code is written to deal with it and made available for you to download to your virus checker. (I'm talking about MONTHS, in some cases, in which you are dangerously vulnerable.) SurfinGuard deals with this vulnerability... giving you a level of protection beyond the traditional virus-checker. I run SurfinGuard along with my (always updated) virus checker and have experienced no incompatibility with either AVG or AVPers. I made a copy of my registry before installing it, just in case of a software conflict but the precaution was unnecessary. 

This terrific program is created by a Finjan Software (they specialize in first-strike security). They have an informative website that's worth a visit... they even provide a way you can test your newly-installed SurfinGuard against a benign Trojan. (I also tested it against a non-benign Trojan file that I had on disk... and SurfinGuard stopped it in it's tracks!) Read the information on the website as well as the Readme.txt that accompanies the download... it has features too numerous to describe in this review. (Pay special attention to the note on handling .zip files and how you can monitor file activity manually). 

SurfinGuard uses Finjan's First-Strike Security technology to detect and prevent malicious code attacks without relying on anti-virus database updates. With no updates needed, SurfinGuard users can open programs with the peace of mind that they are protected. SurfinGuard also blocks VB Script programs such as the ILOVEYOU worm. 

What is the price of peace of mind? This is FREEware, folks! AND... don't be fooled by the price...this is a clever, well-behaved, user-friendly program.

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Reviewed by Marilynne (Lynne) Isaacs

Purchase Information: It's free but you need to supply an online email address for them to send the registration number. 

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