Platform: For all versions of Windows and Mac OS X; iOS and Android apps are in development
You can keep your data private while you browse, stop malware, block IP address snoopers and keep ad networks at bay by using the new privacy service SpotFlux at no cost to you. This easy-to-use program encrypts your Internet connection using VPN to SpotFlux cloud, anonymizes your IP address, and reduces your risk of infection while you surf. This amounts to fewer irritating ads and as a result your bandwidth consumption will be reduced, a great consequence of filtering out unwanted ads. With SpotFlux tracking you will be difficult because of the use of random IP and DNS addresses by the software and also, your ISP and other agencies cannot track you on the Internet as you now belong to a different country altogether. This means, any sites blocked by your ISP will now be accessible.
If you open Device Manager and expand "Network adapters" you will see a new entry: Spotflux Network Device Driver. You can also see a new network connection in your list of networks. To view the connection details in Windows 7, click on the network icon in the System Tray and choose Open Networking and Sharing Center. In the window that appears, click Manage Network Adaptors. It does not add any extension to Google Chrome or an addon to IE. Check your IP address before and after you install SpotFlux using ipchicken.com in ALL your internet browsers. You will see that they will all use the new IP address used by SpotFlux. The new IP address is supported by every application that connects to the Internet.
It can be configured to start together with Windows.
NOTE: You can use IPCONFIG /ALL command in the Command Prompt to view your TCP/IP info. To open the Command Prompt, press Windows Key + R. The Run dialog box should appear. Type CMD and press Enter. You will get the Command window where you can type IPCONFIG /ALL to view your current TCP/IP info.
Another excellent feature of SpotFlux is its ability to block Flash ads and popups. Go to one of those websites that run Flash ads. Many of the blogs on blogspot.com run such ads. With SpotFlux enabled, the same websites will fail to launch any popup window or popup banner – especially Flash-based. There are some sites such as popupcheck.com and popuptest.com that run popup blocker tests. Go there to see how effective SpotFlux is at blocking those ads and popups. By the way, when you’re done, check out this Anonymous Surfing test to see if you’re being tracked when surfing the net, regardless of what software you might be using:
http://www.auditmypc.com/digital-footprint.asp
Another advantage of using SpotFlux is that it keeps on scanning the incoming traffic for malware and destroys them if found.
All the above is achieved by creating an encrypted connection (using 128-bit SSL encryption) where your IP address and DNS are changed so that people do not know who you are and where you are located. Spotflux kinda works like a faster, simpler version of the Tor Network. Installation is easy, and you can set the app to access a proxy server for added safety (or to ensure that you can reach region-restricted sites after your IP address becomes anonymous).
Using SpotFlux requires a certain level of trust, since the Spotflux servers are privy to everything you do. The payoff is the assurance that your activities are anonymized and protected.
Spotflux will install Java if you don't have it because SpotFlux requires it.
If you are concerned about their privacy policy head on to this page for more detailed info:
http://www.spotflux.com/privacy.htm
Here are some comments from early testers:
Fannet (a PCWorld.com member):
"... they also change your IP like a "VPN". I tried it and was pretty impressed and did not notice any performance hit. Your ISP already "has all your traffic in their hands" and so does the N$A if you live in the US, so I guess if I was really concerned about any of that I'd rather trust a small startup who's passionate about what they do than some large company or government."
1maddog (another PCWorld member):
"...Don't know how it worked before July 2012, but it installed and ran seamlessly on my XP laptop. Only downside: big hit on speed. But no more than, and usually less any other "free" VPN I've tried. Upload speeds remain pretty fast, and seem to be unaffected. My main interest is for Bittorrent, and anonymizing my IP address, which SpotFlux does just fine. Easy to use, or disable and finally there is no bandwidth or data used limitations. No other free VPN I've tried does that."
Some Drawbacks
Since your traffic goes through the Spotflux servers twice, you will see a slight performance hit. Certain applications, such as torrent clients, may not work correctly with the new IP address. But SpotFlux is very easy to disable. Since your DNS is changed, your Google, Facebook and certain other services will say they don’t recognize the computer you are using and may ask you to perform additional steps for login. Some sites, such as Facebook, give you the option to save the ‘new device’ while others will keep on asking you to perform additional info every time you log in.
Session timeouts is another annoyance. Browsing with SpotFlux enabled may cause delays due to which, timeouts may happen.
Alternatives
DNSCrypt coupled with OpenDNS to stop DNS snooping/spoofing are other programs that will add security to your connection.
From DadWhiskers (posted in TechCrunch):
For total obscurity in security critical situaltion, use Ultrasurf. Ultrasurf and its services are free. Norton Antivirus, McAfee SiteAdvisor, and perhaps others, will tell you the Ultrasurf site is a malware site, but it is not. Also, Ultrasurf may be falsely recognized as malware, but it is not.
If you are in a restrictive country, you can surf anonymously and securely if you use Ultrasurf correctly and wisely. No government will be unable to find out what you are doing online, though you should carefully consider if you actually want to risk breaking the laws of your country. That is your choice alone. There will always be some risk of problems if you do.
Ultrasurf MUST be used with Internet Explorer as the browser to work properly. No other browser can provide full anonymity. Ultrasurf is designed to be used only with Internet Explorer.
When running Ultrasurf, all surfing goes through the Ultrasurf servers in the U.S., and so, that will be the IP address all sites see. You will appear to all sites to be surfing from the U.S. All data streams - both ways - between your system and the Ultrasurf servers are encrypted.
Ultrasurf is a portable app, so it does not install, and may be kept on a pen drive, so it isn't on your system. Keep the pen drive absolutely secure. Ultrasurf leaves no traces of having been used on your system, except for what may be in your paging file. I would recommend turning off the paging file before using Ultrasurf each time, if your security situation is critical. I.e., your system may be confiscated for forensic investigation, and prosecution is at all possible. If you turn off the paging file, your system may become very slow if you have less than 4 GB of memory, though safety would be a more important consideration than speed in critical situations.
Use portable Truecrypt to encrypt anything on your system you want to be absolutely inaccessible by others. Read about portable Truecrypt here. You could safely keep Ultrasurf and anything else in the Truecrypt vault. You can keep portable Truecrypt on your pen drive along with the Truecrypt vault. See the Truecrypt site for full information about how to use it, especially about using the "hidden" vault. The U.S. government, and almost certainly anyone else, can not crack Truecrypt.
I believe use of these suggestions will provide total anonymity as to your location, sites and data being accessed, though circumstances can change. Always be extremely careful in security critical situations.
Privacy Protector is another alternative to SpotFlux:
http://privacyprotector.eu/en/
such a great info thanks for sharing the great site
ReplyDelete