Application-level sandboxing on devices
Execution of an application in an application-level sandbox is disclosed. A request to launch an application is received by an operating system executing on a device. A determination is made that a stored copy of the application should be executed within an application-level sandbox. The stored copy of the application is executed in the application-level sandbox.
1. A system, comprising:
a processor configured to:
receive, by an operating system executing on a device and in response to a user election, a request to launch an application;
determine, based at least in part on the user election, that a stored copy of the application should be executed within an application-level sandbox provided by a third party host application; and
execute the stored copy of the application in the application-level sandbox provided by the third party host application, wherein the third party host application provides a framework layer that provides hooking functionality for monitoring system calls made by the application, wherein the application-level sandbox is configured to provide artificial data to the application while the application is executing in the application-level sandbox, and wherein the artificial data provided to the application is configurable by the user; and
a memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the request to launch the application is a first request to launch the application after installation of the application on the device, and wherein determining that the stored copy of the application should be executed within the application-level sandbox includes determining that a security verdict for the application has not yet been received at the device.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein determining that the security verdict has not been received includes determining that a security assessment by the device has not been performed.
4. The system of claim 2 , wherein determining that the security verdict has not been received includes determining that a security assessment by a remote server has not been received.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application-level sandbox is configured to monitor behavior of the application during execution of the application in the application-level sandbox.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application-level sandbox is configured to log data during execution of the application in the application-level sandbox.
7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the system is configured to transmit collected log data to a remote server for analysis.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to detect malicious behavior during monitored execution of the application in the application-level sandbox.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to detect malicious behavior at least in part by detecting attempted malicious network activity.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to block at least a portion of the attempted malicious network activity.
11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the attempted malicious network activity includes an unauthorized attempt to exfiltrate data from the device.
12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the attempted malicious network activity includes an attempt to contact a known malicious domain.
13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the request to launch the application is a first request, and wherein, at a time subsequent to the first request, a second request to launch the application is received, and a determination is made that the stored copy of the application need not be executed in the application-level sandbox.
14. A method, comprising:
receiving, by an operating system executing on a device and in response to a user election, a request to launch an application;
determining, based at least in part on the user election, that a stored copy of the application should be executed within an application-level sandbox provided by a third party host application; and
executing the stored copy of the application in the application-level sandbox provided by the third party host application, wherein the third party host application provides a framework layer that provides hooking functionality for monitoring system calls made by the application, wherein the application-level sandbox is configured to provide artificial data to the application while the application is executing in the application-level sandbox, and wherein the artificial data provided to the application is configurable by the user.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the request to launch the application is a first request to launch the application after installation of the application on the device, and wherein determining that the stored copy of the application should be executed within the application-level sandbox includes determining that a security verdict for the application has not yet been received at the device.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein determining that the security verdict has not been received includes determining that a security assessment by the device has not been performed.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein determining that the security verdict has not been received includes determining that a security assessment by a remote server has not been received.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the application-level sandbox is configured to monitor behavior of the application during execution of the application in the application-level sandbox.
19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the application-level sandbox is configured to log data during execution of the application in the application-level sandbox.
20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising transmitting collected log data to a remote server for analysis.
21. The method of claim 14 , further comprising detecting malicious behavior during monitored execution of the application in the application-level sandbox.
22. The method of claim 21 , wherein detecting malicious behavior includes detecting attempted malicious network activity.
23. The method of claim 22 , further comprising blocking at least a portion of the attempted malicious network activity.
24. The method of claim 22 , wherein the attempted malicious network activity includes an unauthorized attempt to exfiltrate data from the device.
25. The method of claim 22 , wherein the attempted malicious network activity includes an attempt to contact a known malicious domain.
26. The method of claim 14 , wherein the request to launch the application is a first request, and wherein, at a time subsequent to the first request, a second request to launch the application is received, and a determination is made that the stored copy of the application need not be executed in the application-level sandbox.
27. A computer program product embodied in a tangible, non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
receiving, by an operating system executing on a device and in response to a user election, a request to launch an application;
determining, based at least in part on the user election, that a stored copy of the application should be executed within an application-level sandbox provided by a third party host application; and
executing the stored copy of the application in the application-level sandbox provided by the third party host application, wherein the third party host application provides a framework layer that provides hooking functionality for monitoring system calls made by the application, wherein the application-level sandbox is configured to provide artificial data to the application while the application is executing in the application-level sandbox, and wherein the artificial data provided to the application is configurable by the user.
28. The computer program product of claim 27 , wherein the request to launch the application is a first request to launch the application after installation of the application on the device, and wherein determining that the stored copy of the application should be executed within the application-level sandbox includes determining that a security verdict for the application has not yet been received at the device.
29. The computer program product of claim 28 , wherein determining that the security verdict has not been received includes determining that a security assessment by the device has not been performed.
30. The computer program product of claim 28 , wherein determining that the security verdict has not been received includes determining that a security assessment by a remote server has not been received.