14 DAY TRIAL // Protection is on the menu today and it seems that no matter how hard we try we are yet not safe from malicious hands. It seems that our system is still vulnerable. I am not talking about the viruses, spyware and all the other malware that is floating on the Internet. This time the subject of our discussion is our personal privacy that can be hacked at any moment.
Alan Computers Ltd. comes to the rescue and gives us CyberGuard, a data encrypting solution that is designed to protect the files you are sending over the Internet. Besides, due to its features, you can use it to speed up your computer's performance by scanning it and deleting unwanted files.
The application costs $49.95, a little over my budget if you asked me. There is no time limitation in what regards its use. However, the developer imposed some restrictions that apply when working with it and four out of five of its composing sections have a limitation of some sort.
The five components of the software are the Encryptor, the Surf Cleaner, the Eraser, the Stenograph and the Virtual Safe. The Encryptor will code and apply a password to the output result. The first thing you should do when working with this component is choosing the size of the key you are going to apply. The range varies from 512 to 16384. Keep in mind that the larger the key, the more time the application will take to create it.
The impressive attributes regarding this tool are the compressing/encrypting technology which compresses the file three times. Also, the user can generate a new signature key pair in order to validate documents. The wizard-like interface provided will guide you step by step through all the "procedures" of the application. Suffice to say that generating the key (both exchange and signature) is for encrypting and signing, while the importing option is for decrypting or validating the file.
The Encryptor is limited to working with up to 100kb files for encrypting/decrypting them and up to 50kb when it comes to signing/validating the files.
The next tool is Surf Cleaner. This is the only tool that has absolutely no limitation and will perform all the listed jobs no matter what. The cleaner is designed to clear the IE history, temporary file, clear typed URLs and the cookies. In Windows mode it can rid you of the searched files, and typed commands in Run as well as of the recent documents, Recycle Bin and Windows Temporary directory. Another section includes clearing Windows Media Player recent files, Paint, WordPad and WinRar recent files.
The Eraser tool's limitation is that the maximum file size wiped is 1MB. The operation is simple, as all you have to do is drag and drop the files in the window and select the overwrite pattern. Before wiping, the files can be renamed. This way, you can be sure that if someone looks through your hard drive and despite the overwrite pattern applied manages to find something, the process will be useless as the file will no longer preserve its original name. The overwrite patterns available are: Gutman with 35, US DoD with 7 passes, US DoD with 5 passes and Pseudorandum Data with one pass.
Stenograph is also limited to working with files up to 25kb. The weird thing is that I could find nowhere what types of pictures it supports. The principle is simple: load a file into an image, apply a password and send it wherever you want. The recipient has to know the password and the fact that the certain image contains additional files.
The final element composing CyberGuard is called Virtual Safe. It will create a clone of one of the volumes on your HDD. In my case it cloned the system partition. It will create an encrypted virtual disk and allow you to use it as a local drive. This too is subject to restriction and one cannot use a virtual encrypted disk of more than 1MB. The best part with this tool is that, when setting the password, you will be provided with a safety level telling you how strong your countersign is.
The Good
It is a nice application that provides you with plenty of means for securing your data. The interface is nice and the features work fine.
"Another advantage of the CyberGuard's safe is that there are no chances that it can be stolen from the computer. Even if a password is known, the safe can be used only on the computer it has been created on" says the developer and the affirmation is actually true.
The Bad
After dealing with one tool, the user has to re-launch the application in order to use a different tool. Also, the lack of a Help menu may pose some problems to beginners. But the worst part of the application is that you cannot minimize it to system tray or the taskbar and once opened, it will only appear on the desktop. I guess this must be for security reasons, but it is still pretty annoying.
The Truth
All in all, the application is fine and you get the hang of it pretty soon. The price may seem a little too much and could use a little cut off. However, my recommendation is to use it and see for yourselves what the software can do for you.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
