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Re: are the non-verified games here viruses?

Posted by darkcloud806 on .
I forgot to mention that there are a few security measures you can implement if you are using a Windows OS. 10 is usually best for the features it offers.
Windows offers a host-based firewall (Windows Defender, but other older windows OS’s offer security packages too. You can find them in the control panel). These host-based systems are getting much better and offer security researchers another defense against attacks, defense-in-depth as the industry calls it. You can turn your firewall onto its highest setting when running an emulation so if the source code tries to install an application or something onto your computer, it will at least warn you first.
Mind you, this is not the end-all be-all solution for an attack. You should still get antivirus and scan your games directory to see if anything is flagged in the code. The problem is that this analysis is static and signature-based. As in, something could slip through if the signature has yet to be recognized. That being the case, if you still want to keep your system safe, you’ll probably have to buy a better form of antivirus software that can perform dynamic analysis throughout the code’s runtime. It would need to be behavior-based, capable of detecting changes or attempts to access or install additional files or software onto your computer (like opening a reverse-shell, for example). I think Malwarebytes offers an API package capable of dynamic runtime analysis. Best of luck to you, and I’ll still keep you updated.

In reply to: Re: are the non-verified games here viruses? posted by darkcloud806 on .
Hi Kazo.

I just posted a thread on here regarding my security concerns regarding the software and coding that goes into the ISOs listed on Vimm’s Lair.
kennyh’s message contained what are called “hashes�. Hashes are integrity verifications used to ensure that the software you download on the internet matches what is installed on your machine. It verifies that the software was not changed in transit to your computer.
The problem is that we do not know who sources the code for these emulations. Someone with some programming knowledge could, in theory, submit an emulation to Vimm’s Lair after modifying the source code. Once Vimm’s Lair has it, the website creates the hash. It really doesn’t matter if there is or isn’t a virus or executable in the code: the hash is created after the code is uploaded here.
Hopefully the website admins give me an answer here before too long. When I have it, I’ll let you know.