Is it too great of a security risk to connect my Windows XP virtualbox to the internet?

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I'm new to this forum so hopefully I'm posting to the right place.

I'm trying to get an old video game (PacMan World 3, released in 2005) to run on Windows Xp in my VirtualBox (the host computer is Windows 8.1), but because the game has SecuRom Copy Protection the game won't work unless it has internet access. Since XP is so outdated and vulnerable to viruses and worms, I'm afraid of getting my VirtualBox infected with malware if I open it to the internet. Also, aren't there some worms out there that can affect the host computer? The problem could go beyond my VirtualBox, and I don't want to risk anything to my Windows 8.1 host machine.

Also, it might be important to mention that I won't be using this internet connection to do anything more than play the game, and possibly install updates to Windows.

Thanks for the help!

P.S. SecuRom, Starforce, and other DRM software are the stuff that nightmares are made of :)

Joshua Quinn

Posted 2018-04-01T00:34:10.690

Reputation: 1

Question was closed 2018-04-01T07:41:34.087

1It's a virtual machine. You can use snapshots, to reverse, any malware infection. Once updated, you won't be installing Windows Updates, Windows XP is no longer updated. – Ramhound – 2018-04-01T00:48:19.577

A snapshot would save the virtual machine, but I'm concerned about the security of my host computer. There are types of malware that can infect the host computer via the virtual machine. – Joshua Quinn – 2018-04-01T00:58:50.677

So don’t download anything. You won’t be infected randomly. Disable file sharing, isolate the virtual machine to the best of your abilities l, if your still concerned don’t use Windows XP. – Ramhound – 2018-04-01T01:00:46.323

Answers

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If you firewall the system (ideally outside the VM) and only allow outbound and related connections you should be OK. I would be even better if you could limit access to specific IPs

Until January this year it would have been safe to run a VM but if someone is able to execute code in the XP VM they could theoretically break into the host using a spectre or meltdown or similar vulnerability - but that would mean first being able to find a way to execute code on the XP VM.

davidgo

Posted 2018-04-01T00:34:10.690

Reputation: 49 152

Asked: 2018-04-01T00:34:10.690

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Active: 2018-04-01T01:44:35.607