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Microsoft Announces Windows Sandbox, a Desktop Environment For Running Applications in Isolation (betanews.com)
Microsoft has officially unveiled "Windows Sandbox," a feature that was expected to be unveiled next year. Windows Sandbox, the company says, creates "an isolated, temporary desktop environment" where users can run potentially suspicious software. From a report: Windows Sandbox is an isolated desktop environment which functions much like a virtual machine; any software installed to it is completely sandboxed from the host operating system. Aimed at businesses, enterprises and security-conscious home users, Windows Sandbox will be part of Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise. It is not clear exactly when the feature will debut, but it could make an appearance in Windows 10 19H1 next year.
The company touts the following features of Windows Sandbox in a detailed blog post introducing the new feature:
Part of Windows -- everything required for this feature ships with Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. No need to download a VHD!
Pristine -- every time Windows Sandbox runs, it's as clean as a brand-new installation of Windows.
Disposable -- nothing persists on the device; everything is discarded after you close the application.
Secure -- uses hardware-based virtualization for kernel isolation, which relies on the Microsoft's hypervisor to run a separate kernel which isolates Windows Sandbox from the host.
Efficient -- uses integrated kernel scheduler, smart memory management, and virtual GPU.
The company touts the following features of Windows Sandbox in a detailed blog post introducing the new feature:
Part of Windows -- everything required for this feature ships with Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. No need to download a VHD!
Pristine -- every time Windows Sandbox runs, it's as clean as a brand-new installation of Windows.
Disposable -- nothing persists on the device; everything is discarded after you close the application.
Secure -- uses hardware-based virtualization for kernel isolation, which relies on the Microsoft's hypervisor to run a separate kernel which isolates Windows Sandbox from the host.
Efficient -- uses integrated kernel scheduler, smart memory management, and virtual GPU.
Or use Sandboxie, which has been out for over a decade.
https://www.sandboxie.com/
Of course "bad guys" will figure out some way to detect that they are running inside a pristine sand-box and behave differently, ie, non-malicious. The user/tester runs that application, nothing bad happens, certifies that it is safe and releases it to the rest of the business population. Once it's out in the open the application acts maliciously and does it's dirty work.
I want every single tab I open to be like a baby finding itself in a brand new world every time. I want no cookies to cross reference (yes, I am willing to login every time). I wish for no resources available for Javascript trying to find clever ways to spy and screw with things outside of that "sandbox". I want that tab to feel like it's running on a computer that was just whisked into existence for that one task only. When I close that tab I want (at least on the local system) for it to be like that never happened. Don't leave cache files, ghost cookies, cookies, or alter the system in one single goddamn binary bit that can be tracked later on. I know "private browsing" claims to do a lot of these things, but then you find out later that it really doesn't or that there is some tracking. However, I gotta say, my current method works pretty well. I just keep a bookmarks file that I occasionally import/export when needed. Then I use 'srm' (secure rm) to wipe every file and directory that the browser altered when it was running (inside of a jail, usually). It's not that I have all kinds of stuff to hide, I just hate being spied on by automated "eyes".
I'm putting money on "under 24 hours" before the first proof-of-concept malware is written that can escape the sandbox, followed by years of bug-fixing whack-a-mole before this is anywhere close to secure.
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
nothing persists
Except the telemetry sent back to MS.
Clean as a brand-new installation of Windows.
I'm sure it will include all the annoying notifications!
but in practice, let say you need to open a file, how does it work? And then save it? Will they allow SMB file transfers between the host and the sandbox? Couldn't viruses spread this way?
https://xkcd.com/2044/
"Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
If this were really a Windows Sandbox, we could stick Windows in it and be so much more safer. I don't think they are shooting high enough here.
On the virtual GPU is it based on your card? or is it some low end basic card?
with dodgy adverts on them. I'd run a Linux VM to browse them. Most of my fav abandonware sites started hosting warez though and got shut down (snesorama, I miss you, you're beloved community found me a full version of X-Tom 3D, which I wasn't even convinced existed).
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
The thing that stands out as being most effective in that bevy of countermeasures is NoScript. It's amazing how willing folks are to run un-trusted code from people with strong motivation to track and monetize you. You've just described what I do already, now. The only difference is that, in addition to the measures you describe, I have a script that removes the entire ~/.mozilla directory and then re-creates it from a minimal backup that just restores my bookmarks and the aforementioned security plugins. I had to go that far because I was still finding turdlets even after all that. It's frustrating that even the efforts at sandboxing I've seen so far aren't as complete as this psuedo-manual "browsing rig" we are doing now.
I'd feel a lot safer...
Cool!
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
Have gnu, will travel.
Integrated kernel scheduler - With ordinary virtual machines, Microsoft's hypervisor controls the scheduling of the virtual processors running in the VMs. However, for Windows Sandbox we use a new technology called "integrated scheduler" which allows the host to decide when the sandbox runs. For Windows Sandbox we employ a unique scheduling policy that allows the virtual processors of the sandbox to be scheduled in the same way as threads would be scheduled for a process. High-priority tasks on the host can preempt less important work in the sandbox. The benefit of using the integrated scheduler is that the host manages Windows Sandbox as a process rather than a virtual machine which results in a much more responsive host, similar to Linux KVM. The whole goal here is to treat the Sandbox like an app but with the security guarantees of a Virtual Machine.
"uses hardware-based virtualization for kernel isolation, which relies on the Microsoft's hypervisor" Hyper-V and VMWare Workstation cannot operate on the same Windows box. This is another case of Microsoft bundling software that forces out competition. As someone in a full VMWare environment, features like this scare me. I don't want to have to hack my windows just to keep my current tool set operational.
every time Windows Sandbox runs, it's as clean as a brand-new installation of Windows.
So it's going to preinstall a whole bunch of crap (Candy Crush Saga, Solitaire Collection, Photoshop elements, etc) I didn't asked for or want?
A brand new install of Windows 10 is about as pristine as a snow pile in a dog park.
It's amazing how willing folks are to run un-trusted code from people with strong motivation to track and monetize you.
Why is it amazing given the level of actual personal risk people face on common websites as a result of tracking? The direct impact to people's lives by corporations hoovering up their data can be likened to dying in a terrorist attack. There are literally billions of people whose data has been harvested and who are being tracked yet the vast majority don't care precisely because nearly everyone has been completely unaffected by it.
Now breaking the web by micromanaging scripts on the other hand *that* affects people. Can I interest you in my 100% proven terrorist preventing pet rock? It will prevent terrorists but you need to water it twice a day and sing it a lullaby or it doesn't work.
Hey, if you or others want to be involuntary Bitcoin miners, unwitting DDoS zombies, or a test-bed for CPU flaws, go ahead. Your right about one thing though: that won't be amazing, it'll just be normal behavior. People do it all the time. Your comment on breaking the web also makes you sound like Jquery/Angular/Axios developer. As if nobody has the "right" to view a website with Javascript turned off.
Virtual machines with live migration very often may help cut that down.
I only run NoScript browsers outside of Sandbox (with a handful of urls whitelisted). Email, banking etc. Everything else that would be OK if hacked I browse inside Sandboxie. Bit of a hassle sometimes (copy link from email in no-sandbox browser), paste into sandboxed browser, but worth the additional peace of mind.
they should use this as the defaut option to run any windows application, and make it a special option to NOT run in a sandbox.
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.