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ATLOCK v4 Uses Windows NTFS ACLs to Block File Access at Kernel Level

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ATLOCK's File Guard feature locks files by directly modifying NTFS Access Control Lists (ACLs), the permission layer enforced by the Windows OS kernel itself. Unlike typical file-locking tools that merely hide files or apply password overlays, ATLOCK strips access rights for all Security Identifiers — including administrators — making the file unreachable system-wide. The tool uses Win32 security APIs such as SetNamedSecurityInfo and GetNamedSecurityInfo to read, modify, and later restore a file's original security descriptor. Key engineering challenges included handling privilege escalation, preventing permanent permission corruption during the save-restore cycle, and accounting for already-open file handles. Access is only reinstated when ATLOCK explicitly rewrites the original ACL, at which point the file becomes fully usable again.

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