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When using a PC or laptop, the user constantly runs the risk of changes in system behaviour. This is particularly true for computers that are connected to the Internet. Not only viruses, trojans and other malware are responsible for this. In addition, many programs download updates or send data without informing the user adequately.
Whether a program fully informs the user of its acitivies or whether it performs further background tasks is beyond the direct control of the user. Thus, additional security measures are required.
However, even for experts it is extremely difficult to retain control over the data flow, and thus to avoid the unwanted flow of information. For a normal user it is simply impossible. Initially, it is often unclear, which network- and filesystem-resources are needed by the system to run smoothly. Limitations that are too restrictive can easily render the system unusable. But detecting problematic restrictions is very difficult.
Thus, for desktop systems a security tool is desirable, one which allows even the inexperienced user to retain the control over applications in an easy and reliable fashion. To meet these requirements, we developed the Anoubis security suite.
Anoubis addresses the core problem, that the user does not know what happens on his system when executing an application:
- It is not immediately clear which filesystem accesses are performed by an application, i.e. which files and directories are created modified and deleted.
- It is not immediately clear whether an application creates network connections or provides network services.
- Ultimately, the data flow caused by the application is ambiguous.