Release notes

This page lists the changes, fixed bugs, improvements.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.3.0.612

What's new:

Several language updates;

Fixed bugs:

SSM password verification problem;
SSM crash on startup with some configs;
minor GUI fixes.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.3.0.611

What's new:

Several language updates;

Fixed bugs:

several critical driver bugs causing occasional BSODs;
SSM crash on startup in some environments;
clicking "Help" in the "Options"-tab froze SSM;
minor GUI fixes and improvements.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.3.0.610

What's new:

Several language updates;

Fixed bugs:

"Locate..." link in the application activity dialog opened Explorer on the default desktop instead of the active one;
License module incorrectly handled the expiration date parameter for non-trial licenses;
minor GUI fixes and improvements.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.3.0.609

What's new:

added Log Viewer;
added possibility to create/modify an application rule from Log Viewer;
added filter sets in Log Viewer;
added export to text format in Log Viewer;
added protection against a new keylogging method - DirectInput based logging;
added new application setting - "Registry access" on application Registry tab (Unrestricted access / Checked access / Read Only access);
added new setting - Default application group;
added new global option (Applications) - "Trust signed binaries": if ON then SSM will silently add all signed applications to the default application group;
added rule option "Protect rule from deletion";
added popup menu item "Revert to the Group settings" in the application rules list;
added shortcut Ctrl+C to create a rule for a selected application in the process monitor window;
added shortcut Ctrl+C to move a selected rule to another group in the application rule list;
added possibility to move application groups (Move Up/Move Down);
added edit field "Description" to the trusted zone address list;
several updates of the registry monitor global objects;
several languages updates;

What's changed:

logging subsystem refactored;

Fixed bugs:

some critical driver bugs causing occasional BSODs;
critical bug which sometimes may have led to deadlocks;
minor GUI bug in the NetStat module;
SSM crash on startup in some environments;
hanging for a while in the presence of rules for files located on inaccessible network shares;
minor GUI fixes.

View history of SSM 2.3 beta builds.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.2.0.604

Fixed bugs:

some kernel memory leaks & performance optimizations;
fixed several memory leaks;
minor GUI fixes.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.2.0.603

What's new:

added new option - "Forced focus transition to SSM pop-up windows", OFF by default;

Bugs fixed:

some driver optimizations;
BNF bug with Nortel Contivity VPN client;

System Safety Monitor, version 2.2.0.602

Bugs fixed:

High CPU usage.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.2.0.601

What's new:

several languages updates;

Bugs fixed:

error message "Bitmap image is not valid" when preferences window opened;
invalid time value displayed in the "Creation Time" column;
"Alert on changed and temporary files in Learning Mode" option didn't work correctly;
some performance optimizations;

System Safety Monitor, version 2.2.0.600

What's new:

added treeview to the NetStat module;
added hidden processes logging;
several languages updates;

What's changed:

Process Monitor: instead of the single "Command Line" column there are two columns now - "Command Line Parameters" and "Command Line";
stopped alerting on string type registry value modifications when only text case has changed;

Bugs fixed:

SSM was doing a lot of IOs;
short living processes sometimes were alerted as hidden;
сheckboxes on the Protection page for system rules didn't switch to default state;
some performance optimizations;
minor GUI bugs.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.2.0.599

What's new:

added protection tab for system processes;
added item "Check for updates..." to the system tray icon menu.

Bugs fixed:

Incompatibility (BSODs) with several firewalls (e.g. Kerio, Sygate, Avast, Rising Personal Firewall);
"SSM driver not found. Please reinstall..." message while logging on under Power User (Limited) account;
StartUp Menu module bug;
SSMUpdates minor bug.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.2.0.598

What's new:

Learning mode for a single processes tree (a process + all its children) - the app. activity pop-up extended menu for the process creation event;
NetStat module.

What's changed:

IP addres of System Safety web site won't be added by default to the trusted zone;
"Don't verify checksum" option for System rules is now available for editing.

Bugs fixed:

BSOD on startup if the SSM driver startup mode has been manually changed;
Dead lock with Spy Sweeper;
Registry rules bug (e.g. MS Outlook);
Terminated processes detected as hidden (incompatibility with Kerio Firewall);
Minor GUI bug - Process Monitor column order;
Minor GUI bug - "Resize to content" didn't work;
Minor GUI bug - registry value details for REG_MULTI_SZ in the app. activity pop-up;
some performance optimization.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.2.0.597

What's new:

kernel level proactive blocking of all system calls for rootkit threads masquerading under system threads (phide_ex);
added applications option "Silent checksum update for digitally signed files";
display format of version info in the tray icon tooltip;
added "WinEvents Hooks" list to the module "Hooks";
new application rule concept: application groups;
added new module: Windows Hooks;
added hidden process (rootkit) detection (eg. FU, FUTo, phide_ex etc.);
added support for Windows XP Fast User Switching;
added version info to the tray icon tooltip;
added PID to the App Activity dialog for both Parent and Child processes;
added new registry objects to the default registry rules;
Process termination protection extended to cover several new termination methods;
added tree-view in process monitor;
added new item - "reset to default view" to the context menu of Process Monitor and Rules list;
added tooltip window for CPU Graph;
added Basic Network Firewall (BNF) module - outbound connections only;
added installation mode in the application activity dialog - to reduce the number of pop-ups during installations.

What's changed:

"Locate" command (Application Activity dialogs, Process Monitor and Rules tab) now uses the default system shell;

Bugs fixed:

multiple minor GUI bugs and memory leaks.

View history of SSM 2.2 beta builds.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.1.15.592

What's changed:

driver code optimization;

Bugs fixed:

misc. compatibility issues with some other drivers (ZoneAlarm, etc.);

System Safety Monitor, version 2.1.15.590

What's new:

process termination protection extended to cover several new termination methods;

Bugs fixed:

multiprocessor (dual-core, hyper-threading etc) system issue - failed to start;
compatibility issues with Jetico Firewall;

System Safety Monitor, version 2.1.15.589

What's new:

process termination protection extended to cover several new termination methods;
several language updates;

What's changed:

"Locate" command (Application Activity dialogs, Process Monitor and Rules tab) - now uses default system shell;

Fixed bugs:

incompatibility with some drivers (e.g. AVG AntiRootKit & Alcohol 120%);
system tray icon settings "Always show / Always hide" didn't work;
columns on Process Monitor tab reverted to default view after restart;
module enumeration failed for some processes on Windows 2003.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.1.15.588

What's new:

digital signature check in case of registered file hash change (always occur after updates). Signed file hashes will be updated silently thus SSM won't bother users any more after MS windows updates;
possibility to narrow the scope of application registry rules created in Learning mode or via Application activity dialog down to the particular key/value access rule;
customization of visible columns in Process Monitor and Rules;
Command Line Parameters column was added to the Process Monitor;
added new group of special permissions for applications - "Protection" to allow protecting any particular application against particular actions (termination, suspension, etc. );
advanced Properties window GUI improvement - now the "effective" (calculated) action settings are displayed with special icons;
OS security flaw patch: if a global hook (except low-level keyboard and mouse hooks) is installed using exe-file as a module all GUI applications crash;
added protection of applications against termination/corruption by other processes using windows messages (apt.exe);
added new rule type - "Checksum rule". Checksum rules allow identifying objects (PE files) by theirs checksum only;
added new item - "Locate" to the context menu of Process Monitor and Rules list;
added new shortcuts in Application Activity dialogs: press CTRL + ArrowLeft and CTRL + ArrowRight to open Allow and Block drop-down menus accordingly;
several language updates.

What's changed:

SSM main window doesn't open automatically on connecting UI;
Application activity dialog: checkbox "Apply to ANY parent application" was moved to the button's popup menu;
Application activity dialog: "With these command line parameters" checkbox added to Process launch popup;
minor changes in Application activity dialog box;
added new columns to Application rules and Process monitor views;
the special permissions group "Process creation control" was renamed to "Process control";
the old option "System Control"/"Terminate/suspend other processes" is replaced with two new options: "Process control"/"Terminate other processes" and "Code/DLL injection"/"Suspend processes/threads";
added readonly special permissions view for SSM and System object types;
GUI performance optimization;
improved SSM self-protection - send/post message brute force attacks (regtest.exe test 2);
special permission options "Allow driver installation" & "Allow global hooks" were removed since they are duplicated in Application Advanced Properties.

Fixed bugs:

sometimes SSM alerted on local hooks as if they were global;
SSM hangs on some global windows hooks installation attempts (eg: ReGet);
SSM hangs when application which contains "&" in pathname starts;
incorrect parsing of the antivirus scanner command line options;
incorrect drawing of menus in some GUI applications;
"list index out of bounds" message box arising on a column hide/show operations in Process monitor;
command line parameters displayed without spaces in Application activity dialog box;
some minor issues in the driver;
shortcut keys ('A' and 'B') worked without 'Alt' for Allow and Block buttons in Application Activity dialogs;
Service list (module Services) sometimes failed to get populated;
minor GUI bugs.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.1.9.582

What's new:

Layered Service Provider (LSP) module;
command-line parameters support for applications rules;
third state of the "keep process in memory" option: "?" mark - prompt user to restart application;
checksum recalculation in case of configuration file import;
added images tab in the process properties window (process monitor) providing the means to verify signed modules' signatures;
several languages updates;
help file updates.

What's changed:

Application Activity window now always gets focus (most of DirectX game issues resolved);
improved SSM self protection against cracking attempts (SSM components integrity checking);
other minor GUI improvements;

Fixed bugs:

several critical bugs in the driver;
unmanaged logging of driver loading event;
command-line parameters not saved for the option "Keep process in memory";
option "keep process in memory" state not saved;
multiple minor GUI bugs.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.1.5.580

Fixed bugs:

BSOD on Win32K subsystem before app activity appearance.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.1.5.579

What's new:

low level keyboards access control to protect from advanced keyloggers;
several language updates.

Fixed bugs:

critical memory corruption bug in the registry monitor presumable responsible for most of SSM hangs/crashes reported by v2.1 users;

System Safety Monitor, version 2.1.0.578

What's new:

now all executable files (PE) are signed with the System Safety Limited software publisher certificate;
NOTE: Windows 9x users may not be able to verify the digital signature due to the absence of the appropriate cryptographic provider.

Fixed bugs:

sometimes SSM did not catch physical memory access attempts;
critical bug which sometimes may have led to deadlocks;
incorrect modification of application registry rules on user input in the app. activity dialog;
several minor GUI bugs in the Registry Monitor.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.1.0.577

What's new:

added new built-in Registry group - Layered Service Provider;
added new option - Paranoid Learning Mode if unchecked SSM in Learning Mode doesn't alert any more on checksum change or on temp files launch attempts;
added the possibility to view all apps which have rules for a given Registry object/group;
added several language updates.

Changes:

Lookup GUI made more standard (Ctrl+F);
several improvements in the app activity dlg design: added description for Registry objects, added some info to the details (technical information);
checksum change for applications which have rules is shown in the app activity dlg with a special sign.

Fixed bugs:

Resize to content didn't work properly;
incorrect sorting in the HTML log by a column of date type.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.1.0.576

What's new:

added lookup field in the Process Monitor tab;
added wizard for merging existed and preset registry rules;
added "Services" tab in the "Process properties..." dialog box for the processes which host services (accessible via the context menu on the Process Monitor tab).

Changes:

major improvements in Application Activity dialog: changed design, added shortcuts for actions.

Fixed bugs:

incorrect behavior if a rule type is being disabled while Application Activity dialog is open;
incorrect displaying of malformed registry objects.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.1.0.575 beta

What's new:

Added Low Level disk access option (to block KillDisk trojan);
Added Company and Description information to the module list.

Changes:

New simplified design of the app. activity dialog;
Fixed default registry rules to make them less restrictive as requested by beta users;
Disabled the hard coded driver registry rules since they caused a lot of problems in beta 1;

Fixed bugs:

Most of the bugs reported by beta users.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.1.0.574 beta

What's new:

new true real-time Registry Monitor; the Registry module's functionality is moved to the Registry Monitor;
IExplore module's functionality is replaced by Registry Monitor;
different rules (for applications, libraries, drivers, registry) can be enabled individually;
added the option to choose the checksum algorithm (MD5 or SHA256);
added a new action in "Application Activity" dialog – "Terminate" (to immediately terminate the actor-application);
added new menu items "stop logging this event type for this actor" and "stop logging this event type for this subject" to the context menu in "Applications' logs" window.

Changes:

Windows 2K+ only (due to significant difference in functionality between Windows 9x and NT versions );
NOTE: The code base which will continue to support Windows 98 is branched off and will have the version number v2.0.x;
optimizations in the checksum calculation, checksum is calculated for the executable data only, thus the existing checksums may have to be updated;
Giant PE files now won't noticeably slow down SSM as earlier in cases checksums are to be checked or updated;
the option "Allow misc low level operation" is renamed to "Allow physical memory access" to sound less ambiguous (special permission options for application rules);
trial period is reduced to 30 days.

Fixed bugs:

optimizations of the "Applications' log" to allow for a large number of logged events;
empty window's captions for windows of desktops other than the one where SSM is launched;
minor fix in the Startup Menu module logging subsystem.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.0.8.573

Changes:

improved SSM autorun protection (Windows 98).

Fixed bugs:

missing "Choose Language" dialog in the installation, if setup was cancelled;
"Registry Browser" dialog did not open the registry key (Windows 98);
incorrect behavior of "Include subfolders" option in the "Folder" rules;
incorrect identification of object type for the library rule added from the "Application Activity" dialog.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.0.8.572

What's new:

added the new "Remember last choice in Application Activity dialog" option;
added the new "Show the full path in the rules list" option;
added the new "Save configs and disconnect user interface" hotkey.

Fixed bugs:

"Access violation..." message box in case the trial period is about to expire;
short file names in "Applications' logs" window;
displaying programs allowed to run once as programs without rules (Windows 2000);
incomplete description in "Applications' logs" for WriteProcessMemory event;
incorrect behavior on pressing "Esc" in "Application Activity" dialog;
"Registry Browser" dialog did not open the registry key for some cases;
retrieving the default debugger ("Debug..." menu item in the context menu in Process Monitor tab).

System Safety Monitor, version 2.0.8.571

What's new:

changed registration scheme.

Fixed bugs:

continued alerts of "Application Activity" dialog caused by incorrect identification of object type for processes with non-standard file name extensions;
incorrect behavior of "treat programs allowed to run once as programs without rules" option.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.0.7.570

What's new:

added new type of rules - folder rules;
added "Run unclassified programs" option in "Application Activity" dialog;
improved design in rule's "Advanced Properties" dialog: driver and library options are configurable directly in the advanced properties editor of "Application" objects;
added option to show/hide reminders about running "allowed once" applications.

Changes:

terms "parent", "child" were changed to "actor" and "subject" in the logging subsystem;
changed order for records in HTML logs to descending chronological (the newest items on top);
restored the silent mode of installation.

Fixed bugs:

CPU utilization counter;
refreshing Startup Module after deleting an item;
naming default configuration file for current user in Windows 98;
sorting in Windows Filter Module;
minor GUI changes.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.0.6.569

What's new:

Fixed bugs:

config file parser bug causing problems with configs on some localized (Chinese, Japanese, Bulgarian) Windows systems;
minor fixes in logging.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.0.6.568

What's new:

minor improvements in the logging subsystem;
improved design of the "Alerts" and "Applications' logs" windows: added the option to show/hide details.

Fixed bugs:

error message on displaying context menu in Process Monitor;
fixed memory leak while using Cygwin;
fixed several bugs leading to occasional hangs and crashes mostly in Chinese and Japanese Windows.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.0.6.567

What's new:

added "Don't check MD5" - new option for the "Driver" and "Library" object types in the "Special Permissions" options;
added "find next" functionality for "Application Lookup" field in the "Advanced Properties" dialog;
added new "Reminder" section in the Options tab with configuration options for reminders.

Changes:

changed hotkey for "find next" functionality in "Application Lookup" field: from ENTER to F3;
optimized rule processing for large configuration files;
minor improvements in processing of file checksums.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.0.6.566

What's new:

added context menu for actions in "Application Activity" dialog;
defined default hotkeys for actions in "Application Activity" dialog;
added "Recalculate MD5" menu item in the process context menu ("Process Monitor" tab).
improvements in the installer's update/repair mode

Fixed incompatibilities:

incompatibility with Trend Micro™ OfficeScan™ 7.3.

Changes:

while "Learning Mode" is ON the "Application Activity" dialog appears for processes launched from "Temporary folder" and for processes with non-standard extension.

Fixed Bugs:

intercepting launching applications by means of "Run as...";
checking the list of predefined rules for system processes;
fixed memory leak on Option tab;
minor bug in Registry module;
minor GUI fixes.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.0.5.565

What's new:

learning mode;
changed design of "Application Activity" dialog;
added intercepting the system shutdown API calls (Windows NT platform only);
added hotkeys functionality for user's action in "Application Activity" dialog;
added hotkeys customization;
improved highlighting for processes, rules, alerts, log records, added options for customization highlighting colors;
added option to choose a user interface language in the installer;
added "Copy info" menu item in "Alerts" and "Applications' log" dialogs to copy information to clipboard;
added "Resize to content" menu item for lists headers;
improved Error Reporting functionality (Windows NT platform only);
extended the list of reminders;
added "Go to Rule" menu item in process' context menu ("Process Monitor" tab, processes list);
added registry keys browser in "Edit"/"Add" dialogs in "Registry module";
added "Properties" menu item for process in processes list ("Process Monitor") to display file properties;

Fixed incompatibilities:

incompatibility with McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.0i, version 2.3.0.2, (Netopsystems FEAD(R) 2.3 Optimizer(C)) (Windows 2000).

Changes:

when the trial period expires SSM will continue to protect your system but the application rules (except for built-ins) are no more saved on exit;
"Application Activity" dialog notifies about actions from svchost.exe (Windows NT platform only);
the "Enable application rules" option is enabled by default;
"Trust all currently started application" button was moved to process's context menu item ("Trust all");
reminder does not warn about running "allowed once" processes.

Fixed Bugs:

incorrect parsing process file names in some cases;
intercepting launching applications by means of "Run as...";
MD5 checksum checking (Windows 98);
fixes in "Registry module" engine;
fixes in "Internet Explorer module";
fixes in "Window module" (closing process);
incorrect locale in version information in "Application Activity" dialog;
bug in monitoring LNK files (shortcuts) in "Startup Menu module";
unnecessary message about saving changes on closing the main window by hotkey;
fixed UI drawing issues on changing Windows XP themes (Windows XP, Windows 2003).

Known issues:

after changing Windows XP theme SSM does not use the new theme until the next start SSM (Windows XP, Windows 2003);
incompatibility with Trend Micro™ OfficeScan™ 7.3.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.0.0.564

What's new:

added highlighting by red color for running applications with blocking rules;
added a new reminder about running applications with blocking rules.

Fixed bugs:

incorrect resizing of the alerts window;
memory leaks and file locking while creating new rules.

Known issues:

incompatibility with McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.0i, version 2.3.0.2, (Netopsystems FEAD(R) 2.3 Optimizer(C)) on Windows 2000.

System Safety Monitor, version 2.0.0.563 RC

What's new:

added interception of the following API calls: SuspendProcess, SuspendThread, EndTask, ProtectVirtualMemory;
added self-protection from termination attempts by means of WM_CLOSE, SC_CLOSE messages;
added a new reminder about running applications that do not have rules.

Fixed bugs:

some UI fixes (keeping notification windows size and position, column position);
minor issues in modules.

This release candidate based on SSM 2.0.0 beta 2 (build 562).

Please visit downloads page for downloading and installing System Safety Monitor.