Using free downloadable facilities, Norman has made its basic SandBox Information Centre system freely available to on-demand private and business users. The SandBox product can be used to insert suspicious files, gathered during the course of a working day, into a simulation facility where Norman software monitors the actions and behavior of each file in real-time, as if they were in a live environment. As a result, when suspicious malware-styled misbehavior is detected and confirmed, Norman will report this fact back to the owner so that appropriate actions can be taken.
In recent months, the business and private use that has been made of this free offering has been so overwhelmingly successful that the company has, in some circumstances, had to limit the product’s use. Now, leveraging the industry-wide popularity that the basic components of SandBox has achieved, Norman has decided to upgrade and make commercially available new releases of its SandBox Reporter, SandBox Analyzer, and SandBox Analyzer Pro products.
In addition to the basic file analysis and reporting capabilities of the SandBox freeware offering, Norman is now releasing new versions of its SandBox Analyzer, which is a command line-driven utility that automates the information gathering process when analyzing malware, and provides a comprehensive analysis of any executable file action. After the file has been processed, it generates reports with in-depth descriptions of file actions using an API log view, and delivers summary-level reporting.
Additionally, its SandBox Analyzer Pro, which is a console-driven GUI application designed to analyze WIN 32 PE executables, provides a console-driven approach to file management. When working with the Norman Analyzer Pro solution, users are able to make use of an extensive list of parameters enabling them to analyze and manipulate suspicious files. Facilities are provided to drill-down and explore files, and to make changes to the simulated SandBox OS to get a complete view of the impact of executing specific files.
These latest product upgrade announcements from Norman are being promoted and pushed forward by the keen use that has been made of the company’s freeware offering, and from the enthusiastic feedback that the company has received about the further use that could be made of a more inclusive product range.
As a method of measuring how popular a piece of security software can become, making it openly available as a free download takes some beating. However, the longer-term business value of the SandBox product range now needs to be proved through the generation of commercial sales.
Source: OpinionWire by Butler Group (www.butlergroup.com)
