DriveSentry was an

antivirus Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware. Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name. ...

program, developed by DriveSentry Inc, to protect

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

users from

malware Malware (a portmanteau for ''malicious software'') is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, depri ...

. It is available free for personal (non commercial) use, though with restricted functionality.

Detection methods

DriveSentry provides a

realtime ''RealTime'', also known as ''RealTime Arts'', was a free Australian arts magazine, published by Open City in print from 1994 until 2015 and online from 1996 to December 2017. History The free national arts magazine ''RealTime'', also known as ...

and on demand virus scanner, and uses the following methods to determine if an application contains a virus before allowing it to run: #

Whitelist A whitelist, allowlist, or passlist is a mechanism which explicitly allows some identified entities to access a particular privilege, service, mobility, or recognition i.e. it is a list of things allowed when everything is denied by default. It is ...

ing: Programs are first checked against a list of known trusted and validated applications and files. These "whitelisted" files are allowed to run without restriction. #

Blacklisting Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

: Only if programs are not present on the whitelist are they then checked against an updated database list of virus signatures; those files whose MD5 signature is on the list are automatically moved to quarantine area if they attempt to gain access to system or data. This is technique as used by practically all antivirus products as the first line of defense. #

Heuristics A heuristic (; ), or heuristic technique, is any approach to problem solving or self-discovery that employs a practical method that is not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect, or rational, but is nevertheless sufficient for reaching an immediate, ...

If the programme is not on either list its behavior is compared to that of previous encountered malware. # Community Statistics: DriveSentry also collects and stores user statistics based on access decisions made by the user, which is shared amongst all other users. DriveSentry partners with Offensive Computing and Frame4 Security Services to collect and analyze malware samples for the database list, partnering in this way ensures that the database is fed by multiple sources and therefore offers redundancy. Although DriveSentry's basic features are available for free, its more ''advanced features'' such as automatically updating its white and blacklists have to be paid for via a one-off payment.

White/Blacklisting

Articles in computing publications discussing new malware protection technologies – such as whitelisting – claim that traditional

technologies are having an increasingly hard time keeping up with the latest virus,

trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 1890 ...

and other malicious threats. The popularity of the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

and the ease at which data can now spread, allows threats to propagate faster, requiring traditional antivirus products to play "catch-up" with new zero day threats. The techniques of using white/blacklisting and community feedback, ''may'' offer greater securityDriveSentry living Symantec's dream
However, this functionality does come at a cost – specifically, whitelisting only allows pre-vetted software to be executed, and prevents all other software from running, even if it is harmless. DriveSentry avoids this issue by allowing the user to be prompted if programs don't appear in the black or whitelist. This then forces responsibility on the end user to determine what is good or bad. DriveSentry attempts to help the user by monitoring the action of the program and calculating and displaying a threat rating. Furthermore, malicious software which has been included on the whitelist can still be executed.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drivesentry Antivirus software Windows security software Freeware