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Comparison with Other Solutions
Many security solutions are either over-complicated for a regular user or are not able to ensure security and handle only known attacks.
| Antivirus, Intrusion Detection System |
- Fail to detect unknown malicious software. Their 'black list' is never complete.
- Require regular updates to be effective.
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| Personal Firewall |
- No protection behind a network, e.g. malware that does not require a network to perform.
- Require qualified configuration to be effective.
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| Behavior Blocker |
- Miss some threats.
- False positives.
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| Sandboxing, Virtualization |
- Lack of integration with the rest of system that affects usability.
- Incomplete virtualization, e.g. only files and registry are virtualized that leads to usability problems.
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A solution cannot expect a user to set strong passwords, firewall rules, access control lists etc. It must provide mandatory protection and not depend on the user to always make correct decisions. An example of mandatory security is Microsoft Windows® File Protections, which protect critical system files, are non-intrusive and do not require configuration.
GeSWall bridges the gap between security and usability by providing strong mandatory security policy, which is non-intrusive for a user.
GeSWall focuses on attack objectives such as taking control of a PC, stealing data, breaking system integrity etc. Therefore, instead of blocking specific attack techniques, GeSWall prevents damage from any attack.
The following causal effect diagram categorizes general-purpose security solutions into 3 classes.
- Decreasing probability of threat: Access Control Lists, Firewalls.
- Blocking known attacks: Antiviruses, Intrusion Detection Systems.
- Preventing damage: Behavior Blockers, Sandboxing, GeSWall.
Because GeSWall does not concentrate on attack methods, it is able to resist to all threats that involve damage, e.g. malicious software (viruses, trojans, spyware), software vulnerabilities and mis-configuration, social engineering etc. At the same time, GeSWall does not impose a support cost and is non-intrusive unlike other solutions based on the damage prevention approach.
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