Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Andy Ful" data-source="post: 575431" data-attributes="member: 32260">Hard_Configurator is suited to advanced users who want to configure computers of inexperienced users. Inexperienced users first try to open/run/install files by mouse click or pressing ENTER key. This is protected by Software Restriction Policies and script blocking. So, media files, documents, photos, and already installed applications can be opened without any problem, but scripts and executables are blocked (in the User Space). Next, they try to use &#039;Run As Administrator&#039; from Explorer context menu to bypass SRP blocking. This is protected by script blocking, and replacing&nbsp; &#039;Run As Administrator&#039; by &#039;Run As SmartScreen&#039;.&#039;Run As SmartScreen&#039; performs SmartScreen check, and if the file is considered as safe, then allows to execute it. For inexperienced users SRP without &#039;Run As Smartscreen&#039; is in many cases vulnerable to the 0-day malware attacks, if run with Administrative Rights. This can be more destructive than running files without SRP, because execution by mouse click (or pressing ENTER) does not automatically elevate integrity level. There is no such danger to experienced users, if they know why some files cannot be flagged with &quot;Mark of the Web&quot;, and then must be ignored by SmartScreen App on the Run.Yet, such security is not good for children, because they mostly do not respect SmartScreen alerts.Hard_Configurator can be a good solution for inexperienced users if they:*&nbsp; can respect SmartScreen check (always) and can get help from experienced user (from time to time);*&nbsp; do not install many programs/games/utilities, especially when installed software is not popular;*&nbsp; accept replacing the program that has problem with Hard_Configurator restrictions (rarely);If so, the Hard_Configurator restrictions do not cause problems with always changing Windows OS, and provide very good security. This is especially important with Windows 10, where many antimalware programs can still have serious issues after system updates.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Andy Ful, post: 575431, member: 32260"] Hard_Configurator is suited to advanced users who want to configure computers of inexperienced users. Inexperienced users first try to open/run/install files by mouse click or pressing ENTER key. This is protected by Software Restriction Policies and script blocking. So, media files, documents, photos, and already installed applications can be opened without any problem, but scripts and executables are blocked (in the User Space). Next, they try to use 'Run As Administrator' from Explorer context menu to bypass SRP blocking. This is protected by script blocking, and replacing 'Run As Administrator' by 'Run As SmartScreen'. 'Run As SmartScreen' performs SmartScreen check, and if the file is considered as safe, then allows to execute it. For inexperienced users SRP without 'Run As Smartscreen' is in many cases vulnerable to the 0-day malware attacks, if run with Administrative Rights. This can be more destructive than running files without SRP, because execution by mouse click (or pressing ENTER) does not automatically elevate integrity level. There is no such danger to experienced users, if they know why some files cannot be flagged with "Mark of the Web", and then must be ignored by SmartScreen App on the Run. Yet, such security is not good for children, because they mostly do not respect SmartScreen alerts. Hard_Configurator can be a good solution for inexperienced users if they: * can respect SmartScreen check (always) and can get help from experienced user (from time to time); * do not install many programs/games/utilities, especially when installed software is not popular; * accept replacing the program that has problem with Hard_Configurator restrictions (rarely); If so, the Hard_Configurator restrictions do not cause problems with always changing Windows OS, and provide very good security. This is especially important with Windows 10, where many antimalware programs can still have serious issues after system updates. [/QUOTE]

Verification