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Information about your favorite browser: news, articles and more.
Software traps spyware, adware in virtual browser
Published July 7th, 2006 in All Categories, Internet Explorer, Security
One reason the Web browser is a dangerous conduit for malicious software, like viruses and 
spyware, is that it can access all the features of your computer while simultaneously connecting you to other computers around the world whose safety can’t be assured.
The result is that criminals can use the browser as a gateway to plant all kinds of bad software on your PC and to steal your personal information by accessing your files or recording what you type.
Today’s common defenses are hit or miss. You can install antivirus and antispyware software, but those must be updated constantly to recognize new attack patterns, and sometimes the bad guys get ahead of the defenders.
Now, a small Silicon Valley company called GreenBorder is trying a radical approach. It has developed a product that isolates the browser from the rest of the computer, without impairing your Web browsing. It erects a sort of fence around the browser. Inside that fence, the browser runs normally, along with associated programs like media players. But the browser can’t be used to install bad software or to spy on the rest of the computer outside the fence. Personal Technology: Walter S. Mossberg / Software traps spyware, adware in virtual browser
