Sign Up here for your Wireless Personal Secure Account.
Here are some common questions people ask about their Wireless Personal Secure, if you have one that isn't answered here, please ask us via our Contact Us page and we will be happy to answer your question and add it to this page.
1. Security is so complicated, how did you get Wireless Personal Secure to be so easy to use?
We have been developing applications for users for nearly 20 years and know what works best for the user. We've been in network security for 7 years and we know how complicated it is. Our goal from the beginning was to have a robust and completely secure tool that would have the absolute minimal amount of action needed by the user. Everyone is surprised when they see that the Wireless Personal Secure is as simple as a "connect" and a "disconnect" button. We even have the Wireless Personal Secure tool automatically figure out the security configuration you need on your computer for the network you are on every time you tell it to connect. It takes all of the guesswork out of security so you can spend your time enjoying your wireless freedom. Click "connect" when you need encryption that all the experts agree can't be broken and "disconnect" when you're done - it's just that simple.
2. OK, so how does your security work anyway?
By magic of course ;-). We'll mix a little technical terminology with a layman example to try to give you an answer that just about everyone can understand. Our wireless security uses a combination of PKI, SSL tunneling, and a couple of firewall and routing features.
PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) is used to identify your computer to our server and our server to your computer. Your computer is guaranteed to be connecting to one of our servers because every Wireles Personal Secure client has a "lock" that only the server has a key for. Even if this special "lock" fell into the wrong hands it can't be reversed and someone figure out the special key. So when your Wireless Personal Secure client connects to our server you are guaranteed to not be connecting to an imposter. Likewise your client has a special set of keys that identify your client to the server. Each Wireless Personal Secure account receives their own set of keys - so guard yours well. When the Wireless Personal Secure client connects to the server and they both correctly prove their identity to eachother they move on to securing the connection.
To secure the connection both the Wireless Personal Secure client and server generate 4 keys. These 8 keys are then used to encrypt and control the rest of the connection. Every so often they generate new keys just in case someone could possibly listen in and break the keys they are currently using. The probability of the keys being broken is slim to none, changing keys on a regular basis durring connection guarantees the continued security of the connection.
This secured connection creates a SSL "tunnel" from the client to the server. Everything that is put in the tunnel at one end travels through the tunnel completely encrypted and pops out at the other end. Anything put n the tunnel is guaranteed to not be seen by anyone along the way, and it's guaranteed to not be changed along the way.
Once the secure tunnel has been established the client sends all Internet traffic through the tunnel and the Wireless Personal Secure server uses a few firewall and routing tricks to send the traffic out to the Internet. Any return traffic that comes back from the Internet is then placed in the tunnel by the server and it travels securely down to the client.
This level of security has never been broken and it's been tested by the best in the industry.
3. What's the difference between your "secured tunnel" and a VPN? Isn't a VPN stronger?
The secured tunnel created by the Wireless Personal Secure is a VPN. We use the terms "secured tunnel" and "tunnel" to make it easier for non-technical people to understand how the security works. The concept of putting something in the end of one tunnel and sending it down to the other end is easier for non-techs than trying to explain the same concept using "Virtual Private Network".
4. Can someone else that is connected with their Wireless Personal Secure client see what I am doing?
No. That's one of the firewall and routing tricks. The Wireless Personal Secure server keeps each tunnel independent of the other tunnels. It knows exactly what data should and shouldn't go down each tunnel. And the firewall rules in place don't allow it to send any data down the wrong tunnel.
5. I have my Windows firewall turned on and the latest and greatest antivirus software. Do I really need the protection of a Wireless Personal Secure account?
Yes. We recommend a good antivirus and having the Windows firewall turned on so that your machine is protected from direct attacks. But the Windows firewall and a good antivirus don't make the information you send over a wireless network secure. They are only protecting your computer, not the information you send and receive over the network.
6. I don't use any public wireless hot spots. I just use my wireless home network. Do I need the protection of Wireless Personal Secure?
Yes. Your neighbors can easily pick up your network and read all the emails your computer downloads, see the information you fill out online, know what online bank and investment companies you use, what sites you visit, etc.
7. But I don't have any neighbors, why would I need the protection of Wireless Personal Secure?
Anyone can purchase a $50 antenna that picks up networks over a mile away. And there are many antenna designs on the Internet with even greater reception using common equipment like old satellite dishes.
8. I'm a traveler and use the free wireless that comes with my hotel room. I'm not worried about anyone seeing my personal information because no one there knows me anyway.
While it may be true that they don't know you, if you check your email and go to your bank online you've just given enough information across the hotel's wireless network to be a victim of identity theft. A person's name, address, and bank account number can easily be sold on the Internet for a quick $1,000. A hotel employee or someone living near the hotel could easily collect that information from the people that stay at the hotel by listening in on the hotel's wireless network.
9. I think this is a bunch of hype. I use the latest and greatest WPA with a very strong password. Who can crack that?
Well, as the old saying goes, the only safe computer is the one that is turned off. Although WPA looked very promising when it was first released, a number of vulnerabilities have been discovered since then. Some of the best ones involve the hacker constantly causing the wireless network clients to re-join the network. When they rejoin they send the most critically needed packets of information, once the hacker has enough of them he's broken the network security. It turns out that it's easier for WPA to be broken that WEP.
10. It takes a security genius to know enough to break WEP and WPA, why should I worry about my network being broken into?
First, if your security is compromised, unless the hacker attacks your computers directly you will never know your security was broken. Wireless network security can be completely broken without the hacker even transmitting on the network, only listening - he's completely undetected. Second, it's true that the people that have figured out how to break the security of wireless networks should be considered genius. And it would be fine if that knowledge stayed with them. Unfortunately those geniuses have developed tools that anyone can download for free and use that will break wireless security. You don't have to be a genius to break in, you just have to be smart enough to know how to do a google search and download.
11. Can I share my Wireless Personal Secure with my friends or family?
No. The license is for one session. What will happen is when two people connect at the same time under the same account both connections get dropped by the server. We see this activity and will suspend and might even cancel your account.
12. Does the encryption of the Wireless Personal Secure slow down my Internet connection?
Very little, you may notice a slight delay when you first go to a new page, but once the page starts loading it will continue to load at it's normal pace. Many users report that they don't notice any difference.
13. Do I always have to have the Wireless Personal Secure connected?
No. And we recommend that you not leave it connected - you will be billed for excessive usage. Our servers keep track of the number of times each client connects and how much data was sent down the secured connection. At this time we haven't set how much data will be included in the basic monthly charge, we will calculate it after several months of usage so that normal users will not be charged any extra, but excessive users will pay extra (because we have to pay our ISP for all of the traffic over the secured tunnel links). If you are just surfing the web or chatting with your friends you won't need to have your Wireless Personal Secure connected (unless you want your chat to be private). We recommend to our clients to click "connect" before they do anything they want kept private. Then whenever they are done, click "disconnect".
14. Does the Wireless Personal Secure client and/or server keep track of where I go and what I do on the Internet?
The client doesn't keep track of anything except your account name and password (if you checked the box for it to remember it) and your security keys.
The server does keep track of some information, like when you connect, when you disconnect, how much traffic was sent through your secured tunnel. That information is kept track for billing and performance purposes.
There is a separate server that monitors our own networks and servers for security violations (like a hacker trying to break in). That server does keep track of connections for security purposes, but it can't tell your traffic from any other Wireless Personal Secure client traffic - they all look the same to that server.
So it's a "yes" and a "no". The exact data that is sent to and from your Wireless Personal Secure client isn't recorded anywhere. But connection statistics and connection tracking for the purpose of detecting intruders is recorded - how secure would we be if we allowed a Wireless Personal Secure client to break into one of our servers?
15. What information about my Wireless Personal Secure network traffic will you release and under what conditions?
Your privacy is our top concern. The idea of getting you to pay for privacy for us to turn around and violate your privacy just doesn't make sense to us. We may release general statistics like "We have X customers", "Our servers handle X connections and X Gig of traffic a day", or "Our servers have secured X Gig." Your connection statistics would obviously be a small part of those general statistics.
The only time we will release a person's specific connection information is in the event law officials ask for details in relation to investigating a crime or potential crime. In that event we will fully cooperate in turning over any and all information that would aid in such matters.
