USB Guardian

Anupam · 13. Sep 2011, 06:59 AM

Have another suggestion for providing protection against autorun malware from USB devices.

This one is USB Guardian, and its working looks quite interesting.

It can be found here :

http://www.usb-guardian.com/

The working is explained here :

http://www.usb-guardian.com/how-it-works-.html

According to the above page, USB Guardian will sit in the tray and monitor for USB drives. When a USB drive is inserted, it will lock the autorun.inf file. Also, it will pxxxx the autorun file, and it will lock the programs which are referenced in that file. These files then cannot be executed by the user, until he/she okays them manually.

The drive can be safely opened, and browsed with these files locked.

This seems quite logical, and safe way of handling such files.

I haven't tested this program myself, but it really looks interesting, and by its working, it looks good. However, the only test of these programs is under real situations.

Still, seems like a good suggestion to make.

Anupam · 13. Sep 2011, 08:05 AM

I installed and gave it a run.

There was an autorun.inf file already on my USB drive, which was put there by Padan USB Vaccine. USB Immunizer did not do anything to the autorun file, nor locked it.

One setting is there in the Config, whereby USB Guardian will automatically open the USB drive, when its inserted. I found that strange, and unsafe. So, if anyone wants to use this program, as a safety measure, please uncheck that setting.

I find it quite strange that a program protecting against autorun, will have such a setting by default. Although, this might be done because they have faith that their software will contain and lock the malware files, but still, I don't have so much faith on software, and so by default, I wouldn't like the USB drive to open by auto... in case the software misses a malware, or fails to contain it... because no software is perfect.

By its working, the software looks good, but by what I encounter above, its necessary to give it a test run under malware, to see if it really works. I don't have that kind of testing setup. If anyone has, please test, and report, if you can.

J_L · 15. Sep 2011, 03:32 AM

Never heard of it, thanks.

13. Sep 2011, 06:59 AM	#1 (permalink)
Anupam Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 9,484	USB Guardian Have another suggestion for providing protection against autorun malware from USB devices. This one is USB Guardian, and its working looks quite interesting. It can be found here : http://www.usb-guardian.com/ The working is explained here : http://www.usb-guardian.com/how-it-works-.html According to the above page, USB Guardian will sit in the tray and monitor for USB drives. When a USB drive is inserted, it will lock the autorun.inf file. Also, it will pxxxx the autorun file, and it will lock the programs which are referenced in that file. These files then cannot be executed by the user, until he/she okays them manually. The drive can be safely opened, and browsed with these files locked. This seems quite logical, and safe way of handling such files. I haven't tested this program myself, but it really looks interesting, and by its working, it looks good. However, the only test of these programs is under real situations. Still, seems like a good suggestion to make. __________________ Anupam

13. Sep 2011, 08:05 AM	#2 (permalink)
Anupam Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 9,484	I installed and gave it a run. There was an autorun.inf file already on my USB drive, which was put there by Padan USB Vaccine. USB Immunizer did not do anything to the autorun file, nor locked it. One setting is there in the Config, whereby USB Guardian will automatically open the USB drive, when its inserted. I found that strange, and unsafe. So, if anyone wants to use this program, as a safety measure, please uncheck that setting. I find it quite strange that a program protecting against autorun, will have such a setting by default. Although, this might be done because they have faith that their software will contain and lock the malware files, but still, I don't have so much faith on software, and so by default, I wouldn't like the USB drive to open by auto... in case the software misses a malware, or fails to contain it... because no software is perfect. By its working, the software looks good, but by what I encounter above, its necessary to give it a test run under malware, to see if it really works. I don't have that kind of testing setup. If anyone has, please test, and report, if you can. __________________ Anupam

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15. Sep 2011, 03:32 AM	#3 (permalink)
J_L Co-Author, Best Free Security List Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1,475	Never heard of it, thanks.