Category: Anonymous Web browsing software
Name of tool: Freedom Websecure
Company name: Zero Knowledge Systems
Price: $49.95 per year subscription
URL: www.zeroknowledge.com
Platforms supported: Browser-based, IE 5.01/SP2 and
higher, Windows 98/2000/Me/XP
Strom-meter:
*** = Hey, not bad. One notch below very cool
Pros:
Simple and easy to use
Minimum disruption to your PC configuration
Cons:
You have to trust that the Zero Knowledge folks know what
they are doing when you use this product.
Description:
On the Internet, no one knows you are a dog, but they do
know your IP address. And that is an issue, particularly
when you don't want to give out this information, such as
when you want to surf a competitor's site from work, or
when you are surfing from potentially difficult countries
such as Saudi Arabia, China and other places that
firewall you from getting to where you want to go.
There are a number of products and services to help here, including Anonymizer, JAP and one that I particularly
like called Freedom Websecure. It costs money ($50 a year
subscription), but it takes almost no time to set up and
doesn't really get in the way when you don't need it,
either.
The others are more cumbersome or intrusive on your
computing environment, depending on your point of view or
level of paranoia. Websecure strikes a nice balance and
seems to do its job with a minimum of fuss and bother.
Websecure downloads to your local drive and then makes
some changes to IE (only IE is supported right now).
You'll need a relatively recent browser version (5.01 with
SP2. I was running something older so needed to upgrade),
and once you pay up (sorry, no free downloads available)
you will be good to go.
The software creates a small button on the browser tool
bar. Click on the button, and you'll bring up a small window at
the top of the screen to log in to the service with your
username and password. There are a few options that you
can set, including the ability to selectively block Java
and ActiveX pages and advertisements, and another option
to delete session-based cookies when you end your session.
Otherwise, there is nothing for you to really do except
surf in anonymous style.
I tested the software with Steve Gibson's Shield's Up
utility and indeed, when I turned on Websecure, all of my
browsing requests appeared to be coming from Zero
Knowledge's network, versus where my PC was actually
connected. While that isn't completely anonymous (Web
servers will track this and note that you are coming from
this location), it is good enough for most of us who don't
want to disclose our IP address in these logs.
Overall, I think Websecure has a lot of merit, and for the price, it is well worth the protection.
Strom-meter key:
**** = Very cool, very useful.
*** = Hey, not bad. One notch below very cool.
** = A tad shaky to install and use but has some value.
* = Don't waste your time. Minimal real value.
About the author
David Strom is the senior technology editor for VAR Business magazine. He has tested hundreds of computer products over the past two decades
working as a computer journalist, consultant and
corporate IT manager. Since 1995 he has written a weekly series of essays on Web technologies and marketing called Web Informant. You can send him e-mail at david@strom.com.
