dmacias666@LABridge.com wrote:
> In my office we are considering using virtual PC software for security
> reasons. It is seems to us that by using a virtual PC for web browsing we
> can protect the host system from malware and virus.
>
> Is this assumption correct?
yes and no...
yes because the trivial stuff that comes in through your browser will
almost certainly be prevented from getting into your physical machine
(barring acts of stupidity)...
no, because it won't stop malware and viruses that use a vector other
than web browsing to get to you... no because you can still
theoretically do something stupid and transfer malware from the vm to
the physical machine and execute it... and no because the separation
between the physical and virtual machines is not necessarily bulletproof...
and one thing you may want to consider - just because your physical
machine is protected (to a large extent) from being compromised, that
doesn't mean that you are protected... specifically, if the vm is
compromised by adware then you will see ads, if the vm is compromised by
a spambot then you will spew spam, if the vm is compromised by a virus
or worm then you will spew replicative malware, and (perhaps most
importantly) if the vm is compromised by spyware then everything you do
in that vm (every website password you enter, every bank account you
access online, every credit card you make an online purchase with) will
potentially be compromised...
the vm may protect the physical machine but it won't protect you in and
of itself, it will need to have host-base security software
(anti-malware and/or whatever else you'd normally use to protect a
desktop with) running on it (which will make it rather slow)... from a
security standpoint a vm will prevent only a very narrowly defined set
of things, it's real strength is in being easier to recover in the event
the machine is compromised...
--
"it's not the right time to be sober
now the idiots have taken over
spreading like a social cancer,
is there an answer?"
Is it safe? 
Linear Mode
