MakeUseOf Directory » Security/ Privacy

Dialawg: Secure Online Communication Dashboard For Businesses

Israel Nicolas — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:01:09 +0000

Storing and sharing files in the cloud may perhaps be the cutting edge of office processes, but there are still a lot of people concerned about security to consider the way of the cloud. This is understandable, especially for non-tech individuals who are not familiar about how cloud computing works. Fortunately, Dialawg is a web app that focuses on security and exchanging confidential information in a seamless interface.

Dialawg allows you to send documents with messaging and real time chat behind a layer of enterprise-grade security. It supports file revisions, useful for multiple parties who are going over a contract. It is also useful during negotiations online if both parties want to ensure that no third-party can snoop in on these chats. Compare Word documents through your dashboard, set up a contact form, and even drag and drop files.

Dialawg’s strongest features are the ability to self-destruct your account, edit your messages and files until read by participants, and confirmation once the message is read. It also has an iPhone and iPad app so that you can bring your business anywhere.

Dialawg offers free and paid options depending on the amount of storage and additional features you want for your account. This app is useful for lawyers, doctors, accountants, project managers, or anyone who take security much more seriously.

Features:

Store your files and dialogs on the web securely.
Schedule self-destruction of files and accounts.
Confirms if files and messages are read and sent.
Compare documents.
Track conversations.
iPhone and iPad app available.
Similar Tools: Vaultletsuite, 10Minute-Email, and Quickforget.

Checkout Dialawg @ https://www.dialawg.com

AppGateSecurityServer: Free Network Security, Identity Management & Access Control Solution

TehseenBaweja — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 03:02:02 +0000

AppGateSecurityServer is an innovative network security, identity management and access control solution. Unlike other similar solutions, instead of focusing on network parameters it builds a secure environment around IT assets. It treats every user the same and only gives access to assets on an as-needed basis. The software provides application level firewalls that protect the security server as well as all the applications servers.

It also provides endpoint security through an integrated device firewall and client inspection, the highest level of encryption for network usage as well as a granular control of user access. Setting up the server and user access takes a lot of time without doubt, but once you have the solution in place you can easily expand as your need grows. All the security features are managed from a single administrative console, and allows seamless integration with Active Directory for greater user access control. Each AppGate server can handle up to 12 internal security domains or segments.

Each and every user and administrative activity is logged so a complete and transparent tracking and monitoring system is available. This also helps tremendously in security compliance and also enables the system to send alarms to external systems when an unusual activity occurs. Over all, the AppGateSecurityServer provides a much better approach to security than the traditional firewalls and is even more beneficial than traditional solutions due to its scalability.

Features:

Setup a free security server and 10 authorized concurrent users.
Uses highest encryption standards including AES128, AES256, 3DES and RC4.
Monitor all administrator and user activity and create alarms for unusual behavior.
Rules and roles management provide meticulous control of security.
Has a free version available for a limited time.

Download the free version of AppGateSecurityServer @ www.cryptzone.com/products/agafe/

PrivyTalks: Create & Use Encrypted Chat Rooms Instantly

TehseenBaweja — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 03:01:37 +0000

Lots of software support chatting and dozens of tools let you create web-based instant chat rooms. However, most of them are not secure enough to transfer sensitive information. PrivyTalks is a web service that lets you create chat rooms instantly with a encrypted environment. All the messages you send or receive are encrypted with an RSA key that is 512 bits long.

Once you create a secure chatroom, send that link to your partner and start talking. Both you and your partner are provided with a unique fingerprint that can be used to ensure privacy. You can clear messages or disconnect when you are done. The tool has an option to notify you with a sound when a new message arrives.

Features:

Create an encrypted chat room online within a few seconds.
No middle man and no sniffing makes your communication secure.
Session automatically disconnects if idle for a few minutes.
No registration required.

Visit PrivyTalks @ https://privytalks.com

OVERVI3W: Track & Secure Your Android Phone

abhijeet — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 23:01:26 +0000

The kind of information a smartphone can hold these days, one can only imagine how painful and frustrating losing it can be, and losing a cell phone is not uncommon at all contrary to what you may assume. So it becomes essential to have a tracking and security app, and OVERVI3W is one such free app for Android phones. The free version of the app can help you track your lost phone’s location on a map, remotely wipe data on it, lock it remotely, activate sound alarm, view contacts and auto-update logs.

The app also has a plus version which has more features like the ability to send SMS remotely, export logs to PDF and many more. The plus version is subscription based but I couldn’t find the price of the subscription on their site.

Features

Track your lost Android phone.
Remotely wipe data and lock the phone.
Plus version with more features available.
Similar tools: TekTrak, LazyDroid, Wifi Photo Transfer, Android Screencast, and Webkey.

Check out OVERVI3W @ market.android.com/details?id=com.UnfairWare.PC.com.UnfairWare (By Abhijeet from GT Mobiles)

TekTrak: Locate Your Android & Remotely Protect Data On It

Umar — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 01:01:52 +0000

With their advanced features, modern smartphones store all types of data. Much of your data on the phone is so personal that you would prefer others not to view. Here to help you ensure that in case your Android phone gets lost is a tool called TekTrak.

After you install the app and create a TekTrak account online you can use it in various ways. The online account lets you track your phone’s location, ring it remotely, lock/unlock the phone, wipe off the data, and more. TrekTrak allows you 2 free uses i.e. you can login and use all services twice for free. To get more uses you will either have to opt for their premium services or refer friends to start using the app.

Features:

A user-friendly phone application.
Lets you track your phone.
Protects your phone data remotely.
Lets you ring your phone and lock it remotely.
Similar tools: LazyDroid, Wifi Photo Transfer, Android Screencast, and Webkey.

Check out TekTrak Mobile Security @ https://market.android.com/details?id=com.tektraklite (By Umar from AllThatIsApple)

HackNotifier: Check To See If Your Email Address Was Hacked

abhijeet — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 01:01:00 +0000

If you keep yourself abreast with what’s hot in the world of information security then you probably know about the hacking incidents that have been making headlines for quite some time now. HackNotifier is a website that wants you to know for certain if your email address was a victim of any such incident. It cross checks your email address against public databases released by hackers and tells you if the address was hacked. Checking an email address is free and doesn’t require a sign up.

The site also offers protection plans at $5 per year and $7 per year which includes services like 24/7 account monitoring, instant email alerts if your address appears in any of the databases, and SMS alerts. The service uses SSL security and encryption, and claims that it doesn’t store any of the email addresses.

Features

Check to see if your email fell victim to a hacking incident.
No registration required.
Paid plans with 24/7 monitoring available.

Check out HackNotifier @ www.hacknotifier.com (By Abhijeet from Guiding Tech)

ShouldIChangeMyPassword: Check If Your Password Was Exposed In Hacker Attacks

azim — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:01:23 +0000

Recently, hackers hacked into the databases of various public and private organizations (Sony, MySpace, Gawker, PBS, etc) and released millions of user accounts along with associated emails and passwords. Since there are a number of different databases, it is not really viable to check them on your own and see if your account was also leaked.

Should I Change My Password is a useful website that was created to help you easily check if your account was among those released to the public by hackers. The site uses databases released by hackers to check and match your email against the records in those databases. Simply enter your email and click “Check it!”.

If your email is found among the records, you should immediately change your password to protect your account.

Features:

Checks if your password was compromised in recent hacker attacks (in 2011).
Uses a number of databases released by hackers to the public.
Your emails and passwords are not stored in their database.
List of compromised databases posted on the website. See “Sources” at the bottom.
Free, no registration needed. Simply enter your email address to search the records.

Check out ShouldIChangeMyPassword @ www.shouldichangemypassword.com (via Lifehacker)

Find Out If Your Account Was Compromized In Recent Sony Playstation Info leak

azim — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:01:50 +0000

Lately (May – June 2011) several Sony Corporation websites have been hacked by a group of hackers known as LulzSec, including the website SonyPictures.com, where millions of user accounts were stolen. Stolen personal information includes passwords, email addresses, home addresses, dates of birth and other data linked to the accounts. So if you are a member of Sonypictures.com and are wondering if your account was affected, now you can look it up using this tool provided by Gizmodo.

You simply enter your email address in the field and click “Check”. If your account was not affected you will get the message “Your information has not been released to the public.” The information you enter into the text field is not stored by the tool.

Features:

Check if your personal account at SonyPictures.com was among those that were stolen by the recent hacker intrusion.
Enter your email to check.
No registration needed.
Tool provided by technology blog Gizmodo.

Check out the tool @ gizmodo.com/5808324/find-out-of-your-sony-information-was-leaked-right-here

Big Brother Camera Security: Find Out Who Stole Or Tried To Access Your Phone

MOin — Sun, 08 May 2011 01:01:33 +0000

When you lock your phone and leave it lying around, somebody might try to enter your password and access your data. If you would like to know who attempted to access your phone’s data, you will find an app called Big Brother Camera Security to be very helpful.

Big Brother Camera Security is a free iOS application sized at nearly 6MB and supports iOS devices with a front facing camera. You start using the app by setting a passcode and an email address. The app keeps running in the background and takes two snapshots from the front camera when an incorrect password is entered. It also takes two snapshots when the application is shut down by somebody.

After obtaining the pictures, the app sends them to your email address. This is very helpful in case your phone gets stolen and you want to see the thief’s face. Other noteworthy features of the application include location detection through GPS, alarm sounds and notifications, visual alerts, and timestamps.

Features:

A user-friendly application.
Compatible with iOS devices with front-facing camera.
Takes photographs of people who enter an incorrect password and quit the application.
Helps determine who stole your phone.
Supports GPS locations and alarm sounds.
Similar tools: Puntalo, BuddyWay, NavXS, ChildPulse, Lookout, Prey, and FindMyiPhone.
Also read related articles:

Check out Big Brother Camera Security @ itunes.apple.com/us/app/big-brother-camera-security/id384761367?mt=8# (by MOin from ThumbPress)

NotSharingMy.Info: Create A Mask For Your Email Address To Ensure Online Anonymity

Umar — Wed, 04 May 2011 17:01:09 +0000

Disposable email addresses are fine as far as anonymity is concerned; but when you want to receive emails while staying anonymous, you have to look beyond traditional disposable email addresses. That is where Not Sharing My Info steps in.

Not Sharing My Info is a free to use web service that lets you create a ‘mask’ for your existing email address. It works in a really simple way: you type in your existing email address and the site gives you another address through which email can be forwarded to your actual email. The forwarding email has a “notsharingmy.info” extension and a random prefix; you can get a custom nickname@notsharingmyinfo.com address by sharing the site with 3 of your friends.

By sharing the new email address you maintain your anonymity while still being contacted by websites. For greater accessibility the tool comes as a bookmarklet as well; while typing your email address in a field on a site, click on the bookmarklet and obtain the masking email.

Features:

A user-friendly web service.
Creates a masking address for your existing email address.
Helps preserve online anonymity.
Lets you be contacted without giving out your actual email address.

Check out NotSharingMyInfo @ http://notsharingmy.info (By Umar from TechCityInc)