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Tips

Understanding GlassWire’s graph and scaling – how much data are you using on your PC?

By GlassWire. May 2016. reading. | 5 Comments

Some of our users have been confused about how GlassWire’s graph scaling works so we wanted to post an explanation to help avoid confusion.

Please see the GlassWire graph example above. This example shows that over the past 5 minutes you have downloaded 20 KB worth of data. When you downloaded the most data you’ll see there is a spike on the graph. Now I’d like to explain what the graph spike shown above means, and how much data was actually downloaded at that point.

Please check the upper left of the graph where it shows that the upper limit of the graph is 20 KB. This means that this spike is less than 20 KB. So you can estimate that this spike is about 15 KB of data.

So now you’ve estimated that this spike is about 15 KB. Now you can confirm your suspicions by setting the vertical line on this spike, then clicking the graph to see that your estimation is correct.

Please also note that when you click the graph you can see below what apps/hosts used the most data at that point in time on the graph. For example in the image below you could click the “Dropbox” icon or the “client-cf” American Flag icon to see what hosts/apps caused this spike and what hosts they were communicating with.

Now you are able to associate the scale of the spike with the top left label.

There is also a bandwidth label at the bottom left of the window. Bandwidth means the number of bytes divided to the time of transfer. So if the 15 KB file was downloaded during 10 seconds, the bandwidth will be 15 KB per second.

With regards to our graph this will mean that we have to summarize all the transferred bytes during 3 hours and divide it into 3 hours. We can implement it easily, but the problem is that the user is unable to see the sum of all the transferred data on the graph tab. So he will have to go to the Graph\Apps, see the “All apps” value and divide it into 3 hours and he will get the bandwidth, than go back to graph and continue working.

You can see that the total amount of data during 3 hours is 154.8MB, this means that the average bandwidth will be 154.8MB/3hours = 51.6 MB per hour = 14,6 KB/s.

Some users have also asked how our scaling works when you drag the GlassWire graph larger/smaller.

When a GlassWire user changes the window size, the graph scale also changes. We can see some spikes if the window is small, but if the size is increased those spikes may be divided into several lower spikes. And vice-versa, for example, GlassWire is running in full screen mode and we can see several spikes and then when we decrease the size of the window, those spikes will be combined into one big spike.

The amount of traffic will be also recalculated so the top left value will change.

For example, we have two spikes in 10MB and 20MB and the top right value is 30MB. Then we’ve decreased the window size so those two spikes are combined into a single spike.

Since two spikes were 10 and 20 MB, that single spike will be about 30MB. So the top right value will be recalculated too, and this is required to fit the graph in the graph area and the new top right value may be 50-60MB.

Now the window size decreased and spikes are combined.

We hope this Blog post helps explain how our graph works, and makes it easier to estimate data usage on the fly. If you have any further questions feel free to comment, or make a post in our forum.

Blog

Privacy

Your PC may be safe from tracking, but is your face?

By GlassWire. May 2016. reading.

Your PC may be safe from tracking, but is your face?

Up until recently you could go out in public in a city you’ve never visited before with the expectation that nobody would know who you are. Unfortunately, due to facial recognition technology, your ability to be anonymous in crowds may soon be a thing of the past.

Russian photographer Yegor Tsvetkov recently presented a project online he calls “YOUR FACE IS BIG DATA” that showed how he was able to easily find out the name and details of random people sitting across from him on the subway. Below is one example photo from his project.

On the left is a random person Yegor photographed on the subway and on the right was the social media account photo Yegor found from a facial recognition database.

Yegor used facial recognition technology from a Russian search company called N-Tech.Lab to find intimate details about people sitting near him on the subway just by taking a photo of their face with his mobile phone. The N-Tech.Lab search could match the faces of most people Yegor photographed by using their public social media account details.

Unfortunately GlassWire can’t do much to protect your face from being put in a massive facial recognition database, but there are some things you can do on your own to help protect your privacy.

First set all your social media accounts to private. Lifehacker has a great guide to help you manage your Facebook privacy while Tom’s Guide has a Twitter privacy guide. Don’t forget about your Linkedin privacy settings.

Other things you can do is reach out to your government representatives and ask that there be rules put on facial recognition technology. The EU has already taken action in the past against Facebook and US states Texas and Illinois already have laws in place.

Also, always think twice before posting photos/names of friends, family, and children online. They may not want their photo associated with their name so it’s permanently part of a future massive facial recognition database.

Blog

Software Updates

How GlassWire 1.2 saves your memory and resources

By GlassWire. March 2016. reading. | 5 Comments

Try GlassWire 1.2 now!

One of the most popular things about GlassWire is our network time machine feature. GlassWire allows you to go back in time to see network usage details at specific dates and times. For example if you see a network spike on GlassWire’s graph from while you were away from your computer, or even two days ago you can drill down to that day/time and click the graph to see what apps and hosts caused the change. Basic, Pro, and Elite GlassWire users can go back in time on even much larger scales from months to years. When we first launched GlassWire we were very excited about this feature and our users were too because we haven’t seen any other software that can do this. Over time we learned why nobody else had a network time machine feature. It’s because implementing this feature is very hard!

Soon our users began to complain about GlassWire using too much memory, and in some cases GlassWire’s service would crash and stop working due to a 2GB memory limit with Windows itself. Most normal GlassWire users wouldn’t see this problem but heavy BitTorrent users were constantly complaining because they would access thousands of hosts simultaneously. All this BitTorrent network data would cause GlassWire’s memory usage to steadily increase until its service would fail to function. On our message board and at our helpdesk we’d often have to ask users to uninstall GlassWire, then reinstall, or delete their history to fix this problem. Obviously this was not a good solution and we felt terrible recommending this to our users.

We realized we had to solve the problem but we weren’t sure what to do. Our team tested different options and finally came up with a solution. Unfortunately this solution meant that we had to rewrite GlassWire to completely change how it stored and accessed host data for the graph. This was a tough pill to swallow but we put our heads down and over several months we made it happen with GlassWire 1.2.

You’re probably wondering how GlassWire 1.2 is different than our previous versions. This new version of GlassWire only requests the amount of host data needed to draw the graph for its selected time period so it uses much less memory. GlassWire keeps the data it isn’t currently using in a cache that it can access at any time. We tried to make these changes invisible to most users but you may see “loading data…” occasionally when accessing some data over long time periods. For example the “Usage” tab may sometimes say “loading data” when it’s updating. This brief delay to load data allows GlassWire to access and display the data you need while keeping overall memory usage much lower than it was before. You may also notice how we broke up GlassWire’s database into several sections to make it load more efficiently.

We feel the minimal delay to “load” data is worth the trade off to keep GlassWire’s overall memory footprint much lower and we hope you feel the same way. Please note that over time as we optimize GlassWire further these “loading…” events should decrease more and more.

We’d like to thank our alpha testing team who helped us find bugs in this new unreleased version. Without their help our jobs would have been a lot more difficult and taken a lot longer.

If you haven’t already please try GlassWire 1.2 and check out the memory optimizations, along with many other improvements including optimizations for Microsoft Surface tablets, improvements in our data counter on the main graph, Turkish language support, plus many other bug fixes and optimizations.

Thank you for your support and patience while our team worked hard on this major rewrite of GlassWire. Now we have a stable base to move forward and continue to improve. As always, if you have anything to say please let us know on Twitter or our forum so we can get your feedback.

Sincerely, The GlassWire Team

GlassWire 1.2 Download – Change List

Blog

Tips

Are you using a VPN?

By GlassWire. March 2016. reading.

Are you using a VPN yet?

The Washington Post recently reported that the National Security Agency data will be shared with other intelligence agencies like the FBI without first applying screens for privacy. The ACLU of Massachusetts has blogged about why this is important. The ACLU of Massachusetts says ” Now, FBI agents can query the NSA’s database of Americans’ international communications, collected without warrants pursuant to Section 702 of the 2008 FISA Amendments Act.”

Perhaps you don’t mind that the NSA may be logging your communications but did you know your Internet Service Provider is probably doing the same? TorrentFreak posted that almost all service providers keep logs for an extended period of time. For example Time Warner Cable keeps logs for 6 months and Verizon keeps logs for 18 months.

One way to help keep your online activity private is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN is a network connection that allows you to create a secure connection over the public Internet to private networks at a another remote location.

For example if you are connected to a VPN from a coffee shop WiFi then the VPN sends an encrypted stream of data over the WiFi network so your Internet access is hidden from the coffee shop WiFi network. A VPN probably doesn’t keep your network related history private from government agencies like the NSA, but it may protect you from ISP or coffee shop WiFi snooping.

Some of these VPN providers claim to have no logging policies where they don’t log any data at all so your Internet usage remains private while others do log. How do you know which VPN service to choose?

Out friends at BestVPN have made a list of VPN services rated by operating system, country, if they log or not, among many other options. If you’re interested in trying out a VPN check out the lists provided by BestVPN and choose one you feel satisfied with by clicking the link directly below.

Get a VPN Now – BestVPN Reviews

Blog

Security

Have you been MouseJacked?

By GlassWire. March 2016. reading.

Has your PC been MouseJacked?

Are you so paranoid about security that you use a wired mouse and keyboard? If so then you made the right move and you don’t have to worry about getting MouseJacked. However, if you use a wireless mouse or keyboard you might want to take preventative measures.

Most popular wireless computer mice and keyboards can highjacked from 100 yards away according to a security company called Bastille who set up the website MouseJack.com. If you use a wireless mouse from Microsoft, Logitech, Lenovo, Dell, HP, Gigabyte, or Amazon along with many others your mouse may be susceptible to a MouseJack attack.

The attack works by exploiting a weakness in the protocols used between the different devices. A remote PC can be set up with a dongle that allows it to interact with all the computers nearby with wireless mice and keyboards. Press the Windows key on your own keyboard and see how broadcasting a saved set of keystrokes through a MouseJack could leave all the nearby computers compromised. The MouseJacker could make all nearby PCs do whatever they want, for example making all nearby PCs visit a website with known exploitable malware. Once the MouseJacker has access to the PC he can give himself any other type of remote access he or she wants.

So far Logitech already has a fix. If you use another type of wireless mouse or keyboard you can check with the manufacturer website, or switch to a wired keyboard or mouse until the problem is solved.

Blog

Software Updates

A GlassWire Major Update is on the way

By GlassWire. February 2016. reading. | 2 Comments

One of the coolest GlassWire features is our network time machine that allows you to go back in time to see your network activity in the past, then drill down into the details to see what apps and hosts your PC was communicating with at that specific point in time. Our network time machine feature is awesome but it also uses a significant amount of memory for some Windows users who have enormous amounts of network connections. For example some heavy BitTorrent users have reported to us that GlassWire uses more memory than they would like.

To combat this problem we had to rewrite some major parts of GlassWire from scratch. This rewrite took many long months of hard work, but now that we have done this hard work GlassWire should use significantly less resources for everyone in the future.

We hope to release this update before the month is out and we’ll announce it when it’s live on the GlassWire Blog, plus we’ll put out a download update through GlassWire itself when it’s ready. Be on the lookout for this major update!

Your Friends, The GlassWire Team

Blog

Tips

Microsoft’s best kept security secret – EMET

By GlassWire. February 2016. reading. | 2 Comments

Did you know Microsoft has a free downloadable tool available that can increase the security of Windows significantly? Most people don’t know, but Microsoft’s EMET (Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit) is a freeware security toolkit that’s made to help add an extra layer of safety for system admins. You aren’t an admin? That’s OK, you can still use EMET to help protect your PC from unknown types of viruses and malware and it costs nothing.

On February 3rd Microsoft released an update for EMET that adds support for Windows 10 so now’s a good time to give it a try. You can download EMET directly from Microsoft then check out this helpful Howtogeek guide to learn how to easily set it up and use it. Another great thing about EMET is how it works great with GlassWire.

Try EMET and post about your experiences in the GlassWire Forum.

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Avoiding Malware from Malvertising

By GlassWire. January 2016. reading.

Avoiding Malware from Malvertising
You may have heard about malvertising in the news lately and you may be wondering what you can do to protect yourself. Malvertising involves using normal online advertisements on mainstream popular websites to spread malware. This means that you could be visiting a well known website like Forbes, The New York Times, or even using Spotify, and get hit by a malware attack. Believe it or not all three of these major websites/software have accidentally served malware ads at one time or another. What can you do to protect yourself against malvertising that’s being served from popular and trusted websites?

First disable Flash and any plug-ins in your browser you don’t use. If you use the Chrome browser Adobe Flash is already built in, so you don’t need to have Flash installed on your operating system anymore. Even with Flash completely uninstalled while using Firefox you probably won’t notice much of a difference while browsing the web. We wrote a blog post about getting rid of Flash awhile back. Unfortunately Flash, Java, and other plug-ins are often targeted with malware attacks so removing these plug-ins from your PC will make it less likely to be exploited by malware. Also don’t forget to always keep your browser up to date.

A second thing you can do to avoid malware is to use an ad blocker. Two popular ad blockers are Ghostery and Disconnect. These apps block ads completely when you visit websites so you’re a lot less likely to be a malvertising victim. The main problem with blocking ads is that a lot of your favorite websites depend on ads to stay in business. If you do decide to block ads consider white listing websites you want to support so they won’t miss out on income from advertisements, or try to support your favorite websites another way financially.

Also, don’t forget to install GlassWire’s firewall & network monitoring software to keep tabs on what your PC is doing over the network.

Blog

Software Updates

Remove old firewalled apps with GlassWire 1.1.36

By GlassWire. December 2015. reading.

Many GlassWire fans have asked for the ability to easily remove old or uninstalled apps from the Firewall tab. Instead of allowing users to remove the apps we first added an “Inactive apps” designation in the firewall list where older apps with no recent network connectivity are resorted to the bottom of the list. Today with GlassWire 1.1.36 you can now delete any app from the firewall list whether it’s in the inactive apps list or not.

To use this new feature go to the GlassWire “Firewall” tab and then mouse over the app you want to remove. Next click the small “x” that appears next to the app (as shown next to “Microsoft Edge” above in the screenshot, and you will be given a warning to make sure you really want to delete the app. Once the app is deleted it will not reappear in the firewall list unless it accesses the network again.

Don’t confuse removing an app from the firewall list with blocking or unblocking its network access with the firewall. To block an app with the firewall click the fire icon directly to the left of the app icon as usual and the app will be blocked from accessing the network.

What else is new with GlassWire 1.1.36?

Fixed a problem that caused Webcam and Mic usage to not be detected for some Windows 10 users with a specific system update.
Added upload and download bandwidth levels on the mini viewer for paid users.
Fixed a bug that caused settings under the “Usage” tab to not be saved.
GlassWire now restores the install path from the previous installation.
Many other tweaks and fixes due to user feedback.

Download GlassWire 1.1.36 today

Blog

Tips

Detect webcam and mic usage with GlassWire

By GlassWire. November 2015. reading.

These days not only can software installed on your PC easily access your webcam or mic, but now most browsers can too! Chrome, Firefox, and other modern browsers now have built in access to your webcam and mic with WebRTC.

If you don’t want WebRTC to work in your browsers at all you can turn it off completely but some people need to use their webcam or mic with Firefox for online meetings or other online activities. It’s no fun to completely disable your webcam or mic.

We at GlassWire also felt nervous not knowing when our PCs were using our webcam or microphones, so we built in an extra security feature with GlassWire Basic, Pro, and Elite. After upgrading your version of GlassWire to one of our paid versions go to your settings, then click “security” and turn on the “Camera and mic monitor”. Once the camera and mic monitor is activated you should be alerted when any network-related application accesses your microphone.

If an unknown network-related application is accessing your webcam or mic go to the GlassWire “Alerts” tab and click its icon to learn more about the program and its location on your PC. You can also scan the app by clicking the “virus scan” button. If you’re still not sure about the unknown app try uploading it to VirusTotal.com and see if it shows more information.

Check out the screenshot at the top of this email to see how our webcam and microphone notifications work. After you upgrade to GlassWire’s paid version be sure and go to your settings then click the “security” section to enable this feature.

Update 12/3/2015: We just learned the latest Windows 10 update issued last week disabled this functionality for some users. Be sure and download our latest version of GlassWire if Mic/Webcam detection is not working for you. If the detection still is not working after upgrading to the latest version go to the GlassWire settings and make sure the Mic/Webcam detection is turned on.

Download GlassWire Today

Updated: This feature had to be removed due to changes to Windows unfortunately. There is no reliable way to detect Mic/Webcam usage anymore due to changes outside our control.

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Tips

Monitor remote servers with GlassWire

By GlassWire. November 2015. reading.

Monitoring remotely with GlassWire

Did you know GlassWire can monitor remote servers, along with other local PCs in your house all in one place? If you want to see what’s going on with the network activity of your server at work, your game server, or the other PCs in your house it’s easy to find out with GlassWire. Please note remote monitoring is off by default and can only be turned on with your administrator password.

Remoting Out – To remote out and connect to another computer or server go to the “Client” tab in the settings. The settings can be accessed by going to the top left “GlassWire” menu and choosing “Settings”. Next click “Remote Server” then put in the Name (you can name it whatever you want), the computer IP address or host name, and password that you set up with GlassWire. Once you are connected the remote server’s network activity will appear via the GlassWire graph window and you can monitor your server or computer remotely.

Allowing Remote Monitoring – To allow someone to remotely monitor your computer or server you must go to the GlassWire settings then choose the “Server” tab. Next, click the “Remote Access” option and click “Unlock” and type in your operating system password to turn on this feature. You can then choose to allow remote access to the server and put in a password. For extra security we recommend you only allow access from your IP address if it’s a static one that doesn’t change often.

Check the screenshot above of GlassWire in remote monitor mode. In this example GlassWire is monitoring the Local PC its installed on under “Local” then its monitoring three other PCs or servers. GlassWire’s free version can monitor one server but you can upgrade to Basic, Pro, or Elite to monitor more.

Blog

Tips

GlassWire Firewall Software Affiliate Program

By GlassWire. October 2015. reading.

We are excited to announce the GlassWire affiliate program is now live and accepting new affiliates. Our new affiliate program accepts affiliates through Commission Junction and Cleverbridge. Commission Junction affiliates can receive up to 50% commissions with tiered sales!

There are some rules, so please read them all carefully before joining. Please note our affiliate program is managed by a third party so we don’t decide who does or doesn’t become an affiliate.

Become a GlassWire Affiliate Now!