SquareX vs VPN/Incognito & How it’s Disposable FileViewer can beat Malware

9 min readOct 9, 2023

In the previous article I had given a brief introduction to SquareX and discussed 3 of it’s main features which it offers. In this blog i will be comparing SquareX with VPNs and Incognito and mention how these don’t stand a chance again this revolutionary product.

In case you are new to SquareX and and want to know more about it, do read my previous article which was liked by a lot of readers.

SquareX Browser Extension — Stay Private & Anonymous Online

Privacy & Anonymity has been of utmost importance in the recent decade. With Cyberattacks happening every other day and…

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Lets Compare between SquareX, VPN & Incognito and which is the best out of them!

SquareX (VS) VPN (VS) Incognito

# EASE OF ACCESS

Compared to VPN, SquareX can be easily downloaded on your browser as an extension and also has a web app. It provides better access to it’s users of what they want to do. For example, someone who is in the process of receiving an important Word document from a contact, might have that file flagged as malware and would end up disabling security software in order to view it. This is very common for Security Researchers and something I faced as well. In fact many security products are actually counterproductive because they make people less likely to use them. SquareX, does not block access to files or resources, even when they have been categorized as potentially malicious.

# A BETTER ALTERNATIVE

SquareX is a much better alternative to VPN, anti-virus, anti-malware and other endpoint security solutions. It is not only faster, more reliable but also packed with features. In fact I will be discussing more reasons why it is a better alternative to VPN & Incognito.

# REAL ANOYMITY

Incognito does not make you anonymous but SquareX does !

SquareX is the undisputed King between VPN or Incognito when it comes to Anonymity. Your Incognito traffic is visible to your ISP (Internet Service Provider) while your VPN records can be recorded from the government under certain conditions. This has often happened in the past.

However in the case of SquareX, your data is not logged in data centers like Incognito nor give up like VPN companies. SquareX does this by leveraging its cloud service and enables users to open links and files in disposable browsers environments so that users are protected against any kind of potential threats. These cloud-powered temporary container sandboxes are browsers running in data centers on behalf of the user so that all web threats get isolated and never reach the user’s computer

The Hidden Terms and Conditions of a VPN

Moreover, by creating disposable environments, SquareX ensures that a user’s identity and data is decoupled when accessing the internet. This ensures that even the most sophisticated website trackers would fail to track and log the user’s activities and tie it to their identity.

SquareX’s Disposable Browsers enable anonymous browsing from any location. Unlike Incognito which does not change your actual ip address. Thus in terms of anonymity, SquareX is a much better choice than VPN or Incognito

# ZERO EVIDENCE

Unlike Incognito tabs and VPNs which need users to close tabs manually to access sites, therefore there is always a chance of users forgetting to close it. SquareX comes with a Self Closing timer of 10 mins which you can extend manually and in case this timer runs out, your SquareX window will be closed automatically , leaving no trace of browsing history

Users can manually “dispose” sessions at any time, which means no data is retained and the browser session is destroyed and removed from
SquareX’s servers immediately.

Even as per SquareX’s Founder Mr Vivek Ramachandran’s quote, “It is safer and more private than incognito mode because websites the user visits or files they download don’t get stored in their computer, leaving Zero Evidence.

# ADS & Promotions

SquareX Disposable browser comes with preinstalled extensions such as Ublock Origin which block promotional ads while surfing which Incognito and VPNs fail to do. In fact the company does not spam you with sales emails like most Vpn companies do. SquareX is ad free and has a clean UI.

# PRICE

As of now, SquareX is Free compared to VPNs which can cost hundreds of dollars for subscription. In this aspect SquareX easily beats VPNs.

# EMAIL FEATURE

SquareX has something which neither Incognito nor VPNs have, a Disposable Email feature which is inbuilt. Using this feature, you can send or receive anonymous emails and even use a custom generated email address to keep your actual inbox clean from spam messages and promotions.

# BETTER PROTECTION

VPNs and Incognito are not equipped to combat modern threats, as they were designed at a time when the primary threats were file viruses, worms, and network attacks. In fact, in the demo below, I will prove why SquareX is powerful enough to stay safe against any Virus or Trojan.

(TEST)- Disposable File Viewer VS Real Malware

For this demo, I will be installing Mrs Major Virus on my Laptop, first using SquareX and then on my Virtual Machine, this time without using SquareX. I have downloaded the virus from this GitHub repository- https://github.com/Gork3m/MrsMajor-3.0

NOTE: Please DO NOT install it on your computer or share it with others.

First let me give a brief introduction to Disposable File Viewer of SquareX and the Mrs Major Virus which i will be installing.

Disposable File Viewer

Using Disposable File Viewer, you can open documents and files without downloading them. Since downloading random files often puts your computers at risk of Malwares and Trojans. You can even edit the code or extract the files.

A Brief Intro to Mrs. Major Virus

Mrs Majors are a species of corruption based on horrifying Turkish Trojan that affect Microsoft Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 computers. They were created in 2017 by Elektro Berkay. The only way for a MrsMajor to enter a computer would be through the user downloading the infected ZIP file and extracting it from there.

Once a MrsMajor is opened, the user will be presented with an EULA popup, warning them that damage done by the Trojan cannot be undone. The message also recommends that a virus tester or virtual computer should be used when running MrsMajor, as Elektro Berkay is not responsible for the irreversible damage upon the system. If the user continues with the agreement and selects the install option, the EULA will glitch out before closing. Nearly 5 seconds afterwards, the MrsMajor will create 100 desktop files. An image of a doll is momentarily spammed across the screen before the computer restarts.

🟢Opening With SquareX

As you can see above on the left image, I was curious and I first tried to download the virus using Disposable Browser feature of SquareX and was blocked for security reasons. SquareX immediately detected it as a Virus and blocked the download, which Windows did not.

Now let’s get to the real deal. I extracted the file using the option given by SquareX Disposable File Viewer and immediately I came across some suspicious piece of code which I have shared below

Using the Disposable File Viewer, I am able to view the malicious code without downloading the file which could potentially harm my computer. Any Malware analyst or a Security Researcher can easily identify a code as malicious. In short, I came across a variable which was assigned to run an exe file and start as a new process. Now that the file has been identified to contain some sort of malware, a Security Researcher can consider downloading the file from Disposable File Viewer and analyze it with softwares like IDA.

Now lets run the file without using SquareX !

🔴Opening Without SquareX

I ran the exe file and got spammed with icons

So, on my Windows Virtual Machine I downloaded the Virus from a website, unzipped it and ran the exe file. Immediately I got hundreds of icons on the screen.None of the windows apps were starting.

When I restarted my system, the worst happened. All icons turned red and the image of the doll was getting spammed on my home screen, none of the apps were working. I tried to open the taskbar but even that was not opening. Soon a countdown began on my screen. Once my computer rebooted, it showed an error that my disk is not working !

All my files are Encrypted and System is a Mess

It had corrupted the main boot disk and my system was a mess. Hopefully since I had installed it on a Virtual machine for this demo and there were no sensitive files, I did not have to worry but that is not the case for 99% of the people who will run it on their main system having sensitive files and information.

This demo itself proved how valuable SquareX is to stay safe against malwares and trojans.

My Review

As we have seen, SquareX is not only Faster but a more Reliable and Safer alternative to Traditional Vpns and Incognito, which don’t stand a chance. I have personally been using SquareX for almost a month and find it valuable as a Security Researcher myself. We have also seen a live demo on how SquareX file Viewer stopped Mrs Major Virus from entering my computer and saved it from the consequences of it being executed and damaging my vital data. This proved that SquareX can offer value to a wide variety of users such as Professionals, Businesses and students for their specific work and is a GameChanger in its category.