Sandboxes in the realm of anti-virus software are aptly named for their intended purpose. Boxed off areas of sand in playgrounds ensure that children have a place to play in this messy environment without spreading the fine sand throughout the rest of the playground. With a playground sandbox, you are effectively containing the sand, or mess, in a smaller environment. Anti-virus software follows the same principle with an effective internet security strategy.
Simulated Environment
A sandbox is essentially a simulated virtual environment within your computer. Rather than running software and browsing the internet directly from your computer, you can instead perform these actions through a fenced-off safe area. This security mechanism creates a highly controlled setting for running untested or untrustworthy applications without threatening the integrity of your operating system.
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