Most consumer browsers come with their own sandboxes to keep your computer safe. This post examines what a Sandbox browser, how to use or disable it completely on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox.
What is a browser sandbox?
A sandbox allows your children to play with sand without the sand spreading everywhere in your garden. This is because the sand is enclosed in a box with high walls. The same thing happens with computer sandboxes. When you want to test your new app or something else without messing up the whole computer, you can create a sandbox using the Sandbox feature in Windows 10 or using third-party tools. You can then install your application in the sandbox and check it without having to worry about breaking the computer.
Browsers – most of them – already have a sandbox to help protect your computer. The idea of browser sandboxes is to protect your computer from the side effects of browsing. Even the best websites can host malicious code without their knowledge. So what happens, if a website downloads malicious code, it is downloaded to the sandbox part of the computer. When the sandbox is closed, everything in it is erased, including malicious code.
Firefox Sandbox
Firefox runs untrusted code in a sandbox to keep the computer protected in the event of a problem. Firefox works in two parts: one is the parent and the others are child processes. When you work on the Internet, untrusted processes run in the Firefox sandbox. This helps contain contamination if present. While the child processes are running in Sandbox, the parent part mediates between the child process and the rest of the IT resources.
Users can change the sandbox level in Firefox to make it tighter or easier. At 0, Firefox is the least restrictive; level 2 is balanced and current; level 3 will be very restrictive. To see which level Firefox is using, type the following in the address bar and press the Enter key:
about: config
It will load the configurable Firefox variables on the page. Once done, press CTRL + F after placing the cursor anywhere on the configuration page. In the Search box, enter the following code and press the Enter key:
security.sandbox.content.level
The value returned by the function is the current level of sandbox used by Firefox.
Chrome browser sandbox
Chromium is used by Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome browsers. Basically, their sandbox also works like the one explained above in the Firefox section.
There are two parts: the brokerage process and the target process. The browser process is the broker process while the child processes are called target processes. All the codes executed by the target processes run in the sandbox. The other part is called the brokerage process because it acts between the child process and other IT resources to provide child processes with the resources they want.
In Windows 10 Pro and higher editions, you can use Windows Sandbox to run Microsoft Edge.
How to deactivate Google Chrome Sandbox?
To deactivate the Google Chrome Sandbox, right-click its icon. Click Properties and then click the Shortcut tab in the dialog box that appears.
Add the following to the application path displayed in the target:
--no-sandbox
Now, every time you click the Chrome icon, it loads Chrome without a sandbox.
Using Microsoft Edge in the Sandbox
When you start the Windows 10 sandbox, you will get a new desktop with only the Recycle Bin and the Edge shortcut. It shows the Start menu and other icons, but they don’t really work in this sandboxed operating system. You can open them in Windows 10 main instead of Windows 10 in sandbox.
You can start Edge from this Windows 10 environment in sandbox to navigate with maximum security. Once you close the sandbox, after working on the Edge for a while, no one can track what you’ve done on the Internet. Your ISP can keep a log of what you did, but no one can check the activities you did using Edge in the sandbox.
As with other data, if a website downloads malware to your system, the malware also disappears when you close the sandbox.
Notes:
- Using a sandbox environment for navigators will not make it 100% safe. Sometimes parts of the browser extend beyond the sandbox, especially if they still use Flash and ActiveX elements. These can be compromised and cybercriminals can gain access to your computers.
- You can also create a sandbox using third-party tools such as Sandboxie if you don’t want to use Edge but another browser. You just need to activate the sandbox program you use and when the sandbox is created, you can install the browsers there. Be aware that closing the sandbox will erase the entire contents of the sandbox. So if you want to reuse Firefox in a sandbox, you will need to create a sandbox and reinstall it.
The above explains what the browser sandbox is and how to use and disable it. Let us know your opinions and ideas about the browser sandbox and security by commenting below.