NoVirusThanks SysHardener

There are well-known attack vectors for different categories of malware, but cybercriminals always seem to be inventive and smart enough to find and exploit other Windows vulnerabilities. Protecting your PC against zero-day threats is difficult even for a reliable security solution, so taking extra measures to harden the Windows security shield sounds like a good idea, especially if we are talking of a newly installed system. NoVirusThanks SysHardener allows you to tamper with a few security-related settings in Windows and installed applications, settings that might turn into exploitable vulnerabilities.

NoVirusThanks SysHardener is designed as a simple application, having sets of settings that can be checked and unchecked as you consider fit. For instance, you can configure Windows to allow administrative rights for executable files that are both signed and have a valid certificate, ignoring requests in case such conditions are not met.

Other security tweaks enable you to turn on the Windows file protection, driver integrity checking, or the SmartScreen feature. Autoplay and autorun can be turned off for obvious reasons, as so are the Windows remote assistance or RDC-related services. NoVirusThanks SysHardener can also disable unused Windows services and remove file associations for certain extensions, such as JavaScript and Java files, batch files, screensavers, and so on.

Focusing on security more than anything else, NoVirusThanks SysHardener can also tweak features of installed software tools, such as Adobe Reader, Microsoft Office, Kingsoft WPS Office, or Foxit Reader. If you are using any of these programs, you should take a look at these tweaks, which target features that are known to have been exploited. For instance, you can choose to disable macros, JavaScript, OLE and ActiveX objects.

While the Windows firewall can be configured separately, NoVirusThanks SysHardener also has a section dedicated to outbound and inbound connections. It allows you to set restrictions and block connections for certain apps to protect the system against malicious attacks.

NoVirusThanks SysHardener is a simple way to customize the Windows configuration and shift the focus to security from program compatibility. However, you have to take the time to go through all the available options carefully and read warnings to decide wittingly whether a feature should be ticked or not. The catch is that you don't disable a feature you might require.