Have you ever had a situation where you wished you could restrict access to a running program on your computer? If you share a common login with members of your family, you can likely think of a few instances where it would be advantageous to keep prying eyes in your blood line at bay. Microsoft Outlook as the ability to assign a password to the Personal Folders would prevents access to email unless the password is known. But not all email applications have this functionality, and while there exists some workarounds – they aren’t all foolproof which is typically frowned upon when it comes to security. However, email is just one application that may make sense to secure a bit tighter than is normally feasible.
LockThis! is a free windows utility that can provide a layer of security on top of any application. When running, LockThis! can password protect a running application so that when it is minimized it can’t be restored until the password is provided. The application is extremely easy to use – applications that are minimized while holding down CTRL will be protected from further un-minimizing with a user assigned password. An immediate word of warning – LockThis! defaults to the admin password of LockThis! unless you change it, so be sure to do that upon installation!
Programs can be restricted with a single password or configured on a per-application basis. LockThis! sits in the tray and can be further hidden with a few preference settings. The software cannot be shutdown traditionally without first providing the admin password, however savvy users are able to kill the application through Task Manager – an unfortunate limitation. Additionally, while LockThis! can secure most any application one of which it struggled with was Firefox 3.6 – an issue the developers suggest may be an issue with Firefox’s security model. Know of any other problematic applications?
Nevertheless, LockThis! is a rather simple and effective way to prevent little Jimmy from accidentally accessing something he shouldn’t.
