What is VoodooShield? How can it protect you from malware?

Antivirus software often struggles to fight threats it has never seen before, although recent changes in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud protection have helped mitigate this. As antivirus toolkits improve, so do the threats we face.

Fortunately, you can provide some fallback for your antivirus with VoodooShield. This allows you to test new software with over 70 cloud antivirus engines, or lock your PC to approve any new programs that try to run. So how does VoodooShield work? Does it replace regular anti-virus software?

What is VoodooShield?

What is VoodooShield? How can it protect you from malware? Picture 1

VoodooShield is like a computer lock and filter to kill viruses. By default, VoodooShield turns the lock on or off depending on whether you're at risk.

The risk is determined by the applications you are running, with the browser and email client being the primary cause of the risk.

When your computer is not at risk and the lock is off, VoodooShield will learn the software you use and its normal behavior to know what to whitelist when the lock is enabled.

When your computer is locked, any software that tries to run that is not whitelisted will be blocked and a prompt will appear with details, giving you the option to continue blocking or allowing the program. .

Alternatively, you can enable AutoPilot mode. Instead of turning the lock on or off, VoodooShield always checks for new programs and alerts you when any are deemed suspicious. This will offer slightly less protection than the full lock approach, but is a great option for those who have a lot of software installed and don't want too many prompts. AutoPilot also tests new software regardless of risk, so it can be seen as a more comprehensive safeguard.

VoodooShield uses one of the best ways to check if a suspicious file contains malware: Through a service called VirusTotal, a collection of more than 70 antivirus engines in the cloud. You can upload files and get information like the number of file detectors and what exactly it was detected.

If some of these tools detect that a program is trying to run, the program will be blocked. You will see the number of detections on the prompt to make an informed decision about continuing to block or allow the program.

Along with VirusTotal, VoodooShield uses its own machine learning to detect malicious programs from indicators and behaviors. To help prevent false positives, it has its own cloud whitelist of known safe files to limit the number of popular systems and software selected. This also improves security because VoodooShield quickly knows if the software it's trying to run is actually safe.

VoodooShield Pro is available in 1-year ($30), 2-year ($48) and 3-year ($63) options. Lifetime license costs $90. These prices are reasonable, but most people won't need to change the settings the Pro version unlocks.

How does VoodooShield protect you?

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VirusTotal, machine learning and whitelist cloud are used to determine if software is safe. By default, the lock is on and off depending on which dangerous apps are open.

If you don't open a suspicious application, there are not many infection vectors other than removable drives like USBs containing malware. If you open a browser or email client, you'll know if you're trying to install software. If a prompt appears stating that software is trying to install without you initializing it, you can assume the software is malicious and stop installing it.

The lock being turned on will provide maximum protection when you are at risk. AutoPilot will provide less protection, but is always active and will require less user interaction.

Although malicious files that pass through anti-virus software will not be deleted by VoodooShield, they will be prevented from running on your computer. Inactive and inactive files cannot harm your system.

Can VoodooShield replace anti-virus software?

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VoodooShield will not protect you from or remove existing malware because it is designed to prevent your computer from getting infected in the first place. Installed software will be added to the whitelist, so your computer must be clean before installation.

The best time to install VoodooShield is on a new computer or fresh Windows installation. If these conditions are not met, you should check your computer for malware and run a scan using available anti-virus software.

VoodooShield does not provide protection against phishing websites, malicious emails or inadvertently sending infected files to others. It just prevents malware from running.

Most high-end antivirus software includes a web scraping feature to fill that gap. Browsers also include their own site filtering, like Google Chrome's Safe Browsing and Microsoft Edge's SmartScreen. The effectiveness of browser filtering is still up for debate, but it's improving and is a nice extra layer of protection.

VoodooShield is designed to work alongside existing antivirus and should not be used as your only line of defense. For the best protection, use it with one of the best antivirus apps for Windows 11 and learn the top signs of an online scam to keep yourself safe.

Security issues like exploit attacks mean that even the most cautious user can get infected without clicking on anything - which is why antivirus software is so important. Getting more informed and being able to spot scams is absolutely essential to staying safe online no matter what security software you use.

Who should use VoodooShield?

VoodooShield is not for the faint of heart. This default block approach is great on computers used for basic tasks like browsing, shopping, and banking; or by people who don't know much about computers because they don't often install software. However, the prompts can be confusing for this group of people.

They can allow malware when prompts appear, or accidentally block when detected incorrectly and cause system crashes.

Therefore, VoodooShield is best used by people who are comfortable setting up computers and regular antivirus software, as well as more advanced users. Those without good computer knowledge should look elsewhere and use a combination of solutions such as secure browser extensions and premium antivirus software.

Marvin Fry

Update 17 February 2023