New GreenBorder Security Program for IE

GreenBorder just launched its new security app today. It's meant to help by creating a secure environment for running IE 6 - basically, treating the cause (poor user security in Windows and plenty of holes in IE) instead of the symptom (malicious software worming onto your PC by exploiting those holes).

To do that, GreenBorder creates a virtualized "sandbox" that limits IE's access to the rest of your computer. A malicious Web site might still be able to use the latest zero-day vulnerability in IE to hijack the browser and download a virus, but that virus is then stuck in the sandbox, and most likely not able to cause any harm.

You'll know GreenBorder is running because it puts a green border (go figure) around IE. By default it starts IE in the sandbox when you click a Web link in other programs or click the regular IE icon.



Greenborder also uses a special folder for all downloads. Anything that runs out of that folder is restricted in the same way. And there's an extra-secure "Privacy Zone" option for connecting to financial sites and the like.

It's an approach I like a lot. The software installed smoothly and ran seamlessly. But it doesn't come cheap: Greenborder uses the software-as-a-service model, so you're hit for $50 a year to use it. The program doesn't replace or do away with the need for good antivirus software, so that can be a not-insignificant extra cost. Software updates will be included, though, like Firefox support planned for late summer.

On the plus side, you can try it free for 30 days. And here's a bonus for reading this far: the company told me the first 10,000 people to download will get the first year free.

If you're interested, about a month ago I wrote about two free apps that are more limited but also work towards securing your browsing environment.