Get the fear out of Internet browsing

Beware identity theft. Beware your computer
going down with an unknown virus. Beware this, and even more importantly, beware THAT. It’s a scary world out there, and browsing the Internet is a proposition worthy of a tightrope walker’s courage. Interestingly enough, so is walking down the parking lot in front of your favourite grocery store.

Of course you’re right to be worried about going online with all the news of bad spyware and viruses out there. But which program will you choose for the first line of defence? And for the second and all other lines of defence?

Anti–spyware, anti–virus or one of those big Internet security packages?

As newer programs are created to keep you safe from spyware, bad guys are trying to find ways to get around them. The problem is that most programs that keep your computer safe work by either recognizing the bad software from a list, or monitoring your computer for the type of behavior these programs are known for. This is still pretty effective, and there are a lot of great options out there. But eventually the bad guys will figure out how to beat them, as well.

The good news is that the good guys have known about this for a long time, and have been working with hardware and software makers to create a new way to protect your computer from threats. Many of the newer processors made in the last year have a technology built into them that allows the computer to pretend to be something else.
It’s called Virtualization, and works partly by hiding what your computer really is. Software created to use this technology can then pretend to be any number of computers, called virtual machines. Microsoft’s Virtual PC and Parallels Desktop both use this technology to allow you to run at least two different operating systems at the same time.

To simplify things a bit more, imagine your computer is a soldier, and the Internet is a minefield. Instead of having the soldier walk through that mine field, why not have a robot do it for him? Running a computer in a virtual machine is like having that soldier guide a robot remotely through the minefield. If the robot gets damaged, no big deal, just send in a new one.

The same goes for any operating system that’s running virtually on a computer. It’s like a remote–control computer that isn’t tied directly into your real system. In fact, the operating system running in the virtual machine doesn’t even know it’s not a real computer. The same goes for any viruses that infect it. So if the virtual computer gets sick, it very unlikely to hurt your real computer.

Now imagine that instead of a whole operating system running in a virtual machine, you can just run a single program. It will still be separate from your computer, wrapped up safely in its own little virtual cocoon. That’s what these new programs are going to do for Internet browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox. They’ll create a tiny virtual machine and run your browser in that. It’s like a force field for your browser. If you happen to encounter any bad programs along the way, the bad software won’t know it’s not in a real system. They’ll just vanish when you close the program. The next time you load your browser, it’ll be as good as new, as though you were never infected.

One of the first, and arguably the best is a program from Trustware called Buffer Zone Pro. It seals up your browser into a virtual cocoon to prevent anything bad from getting past your Internet browser. The program’s creators are so sure that Buffer Zone will keep you safe that they offer a $500 guarantee if you get infected. Now that’s an offer worth taking notice.

Another option is Forcefield from firewall pioneer ZoneAlarm. Working in very much the same way as Buffer Zone, Forcefield keeps the bad guys guessing. Naughty programs have no idea they are not actually infecting a real computer. And you are kept safe as a result.

Both cost around $30, and both offer a wide variety of configuration options. But either way, when the bad guys figure out how to get around the current crop of security programs, you’ll be ready.