Head over to our Download page to install the most recent version of GlassWire.
Along with improvements and bug fixes, we have collated feedback and suggestions from our users and implemented some fundamental changes with the release of GlassWire 3.2.
Removal of Mandatory Log in
Users will no longer be required to create or log in to a GlassWire account to use the Windows app.
Users can optionally register their GlassWire application to access the Management Console from where they can upgrade to or cancel their full-feature Plan and have full control of billing.
Free GlassWire
Free users of GlassWire will now have access to almost every GlassWire feature, with various limitaitons.
Security features that Free users can now utilize include:
GlassWire Score – Gain better insight into the safety of the applications running on a PC. See what percentage of users have used a specific app in the past week and be alerted if specious.
Anomaly Detection – Detect and point out anomalies in the network traffic which may look suspicious. See if the average traffic in and traffic out consumption of the applications running is similar to most, and be alerted when it is different.
Firewall –Click to block all network connectivity for specific applications.
Things – See a list of devices on the local network and get alerted when devices join or leave with this network device list feature.
See a full feature list and comparison for GlassWire Free vs GlassWire Premium here.
About Chris Taylor: Chris is on the Community Review Board for SANS’s OUCH! (the security awareness newsletter designed for everyone), has given over 470 computer-related presentations at the Ottawa Public Library, and is President of the Ottawa PC Users’ Group.
Every network interface has a Media Access Control (MAC) address, made up of 12 hexadecimal (0-9,A-F) digits. The first 6 digits are the manufacturer’s ID and the last 6 digits are the device identifier assigned by the manufacturer. The MAC address is normally hardcoded into the device when manufactured.
MAC addresses must be unique on a Local Area Network (LAN) and the above scheme pretty much assures this, given that each manufacturer has over 16.7 million possible device IDs.
When unique identifiers don’t change, people can use them to track you. For example, a shopping mall with free Wi-Fi could use your MAC address to track you: how often you go there, what areas of the mall you frequent, how long you stay there, etc. To prevent this, Windows allows you to randomize your MAC address so it is different every time you connect to WiFi.
Go to Settings | Network & Internet | WiFi and toggle on Use random hardware addresses.
If you have connected to a network before, Windows will not use a random MAC address for that network until you tell Windows to forget that network and you reconnect. Or you can set any specific WiFi network at Settings | Network & Internet | WiFi | Manage known networks. Select a network, click Properties and toggle on Use random hardware addresses.
If you have configured your home router to only permit specific MAC addresses to connect, make sure you set your own network to not use random hardware addresses.
CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security American Agency, recently published a report on all the various activities to drive down the risk in cybersecurity.
The report is divided into four main sections, reflecting the four goals outlined in the 2023-2025 CISA Strategic Plan. They cover Cyber Defense, Risk Reduction and Resilience, Operational Collaboration and Agency Unification.
From the strengthening of critical infrastructure to the defence and resilience of cyberspace, from weaving relations with government institutions to facilitating collaboration and activities, CISA is investing in improving the American cybersecurity level from internal and external threads.
From a security standpoint, monitoring your data usage is not only important but crucial. When it comes to spotting malicious apps that can compromise your security and steal your personal information, the first red flag you should notice is the anomaly consumption of data from certain applications. GlassWire is a powerful tool that can help you keep track of your data usage and identify any suspicious activity on your network. To do that, GlassWire leverages two main features, the “Anomaly Detector” and the “GlassWire Score”. The two features compare your current data usage for each application with the average consumption, gathering, and aggregating data from its users. The result is a benchmark to verify your data consumption. When an application is using more data than expected, an alert will notify the user.
How GlassWire helps you monitor data usage
GlassWire allows you to identify when an app uses more data than it should, or if it is sending data at a time when it’s not supposed to. This can be a sign that the app is running in the background or that it’s sending data to a third party without your knowledge. With GlassWire, you can see a detailed breakdown of how much data each app is using and how often it’s connecting to the internet. In addition, an advanced system of custom alerts helps keep everything on track. This makes it easy to identify apps that are using more data than they should and to take action to stop them.
Spotting malicious apps
Another benefit of monitoring your data usage is that it can help spot apps that are behaving maliciously. Malicious apps can often be identified by their high data usage, as they may be sending sensitive information to a third-party without your knowledge. With GlassWire, you can see exactly what data is being sent and where it’s going, making it easy to identify bad-behaviour apps and remove them from your device.
In addition to monitoring your data usage, GlassWire also provides a host of other features that can help you keep your network and data safe. For example, the software includes a firewall that can block incoming and outgoing connections to and from your device, helping to protect your personal information from hackers and other cybercriminals. GlassWire also provides alerts when a new app or device connects to your network, making it easy to spot and remove any unwanted connections.
Another important feature of GlassWire is its ability to track network activity in real-time. This feature allows you to see exactly what is happening on your network at any given time, and to identify any suspicious activity. If you notice that a particular app or device is using more data than it should, or if you spot a connection to an unknown server, you can take action to stop it.
Overall, monitoring your data usage with GlassWire is an essential step in keeping your network and personal information safe. With its powerful features and intuitive interface, GlassWire makes it easy to identify and remove malicious apps and to keep your network and data secure. Whether you’re a home user or a business, GlassWire is a powerful tool that can help you stay safe online.
The importance of GlassWire for data usage monitoring and security
In conclusion, GlassWire is a powerful tool that can help you keep track of your data usage and identify any suspicious activity on your network. With its detailed breakdown of data usage, real-time network activity tracking, and powerful security features, GlassWire makes it easy to identify and remove malicious apps and to keep your network and data safe. It’s essential for anyone who wants to protect their personal information and keep their device secure.
Your network’s safety depends on endpoint security, such as a firewall. When a connection or file tries to enter or exit the network, your endpoint security app can scan for malicious activity and prevent it from inflicting damage. Firewalls aren’t created the same and their functions vary depending on your needs. Some work alongside comprehensive features such as internet privacy tools. Throughout this guide, you’ll learn about network protection and what firewalls can do, with extra tips on how you can take action to protect your network.
Types Of Firewalls
Firewalls vary and offer different levels of protection. Some exist as hardware or cloud-based firewalls, while others install as a piece of software. A packet-filtering firewall offers a basic level of protection by scanning incoming data packets and denying malicious ones. Proxy firewalls offer deeper protection at the application level, but do slow down your devices. Stateful inspection firewalls check data against a known database offering an even higher level of security that might slow down your system’s performance. Generally seen as the best kind of network protection, there are next-gen firewalls — these combine traditional firewall features with other network protection features like antivirus and anomaly detection for full-coverage protection. But what does this mean for your endpoint security? Next, we’ll explore how a firewall and network protection app, including other security tools, can protect your devices and networks.
Protect Your Network and Keep it Safe
Endpoint security includes firewalls, network monitoring, and privacy tools. Here’s how a platform such as GlassWire can protect you and your data.
Internet Security
You can actively monitor the applications and processes that are communicating over your internet connection, to check for suspicious activity. Receive a notification if your devices connect to a known threat so you can intervene immediately.
Manage All Endpoints
For true network protection, try to stay aware of all endpoints — the smartphones, tablets, and computers — that use your network. Monitor all of them at once to keep track of usage and spot any unauthorized network connections.
Monitor Bandwidth Usage
Keep a close eye on every app and traffic source that’s taking up bandwidth. If there’s something you don’t recognize, you can check items that seem suspicious and learn more about it to determine if it’s safe or needs immediate attention.
Protect Internet Privacy
Do you know what hosts your device is communicating with on the internet? With internet privacy tools you can keep a constant track of what servers websites and apps are connecting to, including the countries of origin. If something doesn’t seem right, you can use a firewall to block it.
Check Wifi Connections
When you begin to experience a slow internet connection, you can check to see how many devices are using your network. Are there any you don’t recognize? See when devices join or leave it to spot any unwanted connections.
Extra Tips To Protect Your Network
Endpoint security does an exceptional job at protecting your networks and devices from harm. However, there are always actions you can take to stay safe, too.
Change Default Name On Your Wifi
Hackers could easily bypass the default admin username and passwords that came with your router, as they usually look something like ‘admin’ and ‘password’. Change them to something more complex and keep the credentials safe from prying eyes.
Use Strong Passwords
After you’ve changed your router details, it’s time to revisit your online accounts’ passwords. When’s the last time you changed them? And do you use the same password on multiple sites? Using a password manager could help you generate tough-to-crack passwords and encrypt them, too.
Use Two-Factor Authentication
Adding another kind of authentication on top of your account passwords makes unwanted access almost impossible. You can use a code generator or fingerprint scanner on many websites and apps for extra protection.
Keep Devices Up To Date
Devices and their apps have regular updates that developers create to keep them secure and working as they should. Neglecting updates could leave vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit, which is bad news for your data. Regularly check for device and software updates. Better yet, switch on automatic updates so you never forget.
Network Protection With GlassWire
Smartphones, tablets, and computers all have vulnerabilities. You can start protecting your sensitive information by creating stronger passwords and updating your devices. For true protection, you can enable network protection with tools such as a firewall, internet privacy tools, and a visual network monitor so you’ll know when something suspicious is attempting to infiltrate your network. Protect your devices with a comprehensive endpoint security app like GlassWire.
About Chris Taylor: Chris is on the Community Review Board for SANS’s OUCH! (the security awareness newsletter designed for everyone), has given over 470 computer-related presentations at the Ottawa Public Library, and is President of the Ottawa PC Users’ Group.
Many sites are set up to automatically switch from http to https. Try browsing to http://google.com and it will switch to https://google.com. But some sites support both http and https and don’t automatically switch. In June 2021 Microsoft introduced an experimental feature called Automatically switch to more secure connections with Automatic HTTPS in Microsoft Edge v92 and announced it in the Windows Blog at https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2021/06/01/available-for-preview-automatic-https-helps-keep-your-browsing-more-secure/. Even in Edge v106 (current as of this writing), the feature is still buried where you have to be pretty deliberate to enable it.
In the address bar in Edge, type edge://flags/#edge-automatic-https and hit Enter. Set the entry Automatic HTTPS to Enabled and restart Edge.
In the address bar in Edge, type edge://settings/privacy and hit Enter. Scroll down to the Security section and toggle on the option Automatically switch to more secure connections with Automatic HTTPS (1 in the screenshot below). You then have two options; Switch to HTTPS only on websites likely to support HTTPS (2 in the screenshot below) and Always switch from HTTP to HTTPS (connection errors might occur more often) (3 in the screenshot below).
I am not sure if the first option works all that well (don’t forget this was enabled through an “experimental” option). I don’t like the wishy-washy nature of the word “likely”. It does not work with http://www.example.com even though the site supports https://www.example.com . Even odder perhaps, http://example.com does switch automatically to https://example.com. The second option: Always switch from HTTP to HTTPS (connection errors might occur more often) seems more aggressive, switching both http://example.com and http://www.example.com to their https equivalents.
Given the warning that “connection errors might occur more often”, I thought the second option might prevent me from browsing to http sites, but with it set, I browsed to http://neverssl.com and was able to connect with no problem.
Even though my experience with the experimental feature seems less than a complete solution, I don’t see any major downside to using it. According to the blog, even if a webpage is prevented from loading, you will get a message that provides the option to continue to the site.
The holiday season is a time for online shopping. It’s convenient, often cheaper, and we can avoid crowds at the mall. But it’s also a time when scammers are out in force, trying to take advantage of unsuspecting shoppers. That’s why it’s important to be aware of the dangers of online scams and protect yourself. At GlassWire we really care about security, that’s why in this blog post we’ll give you some tips on how to stay safe when shopping online during the holidays. Make sure you read this blog post before your next online checkout, during this holiday season!
The importance of online safety when shopping online during the holidays
The holiday season is a time when many people are shopping online and scammers are well aware of that.
The most common type of scam during the holidays is phishing. This is when scammers send emails or create websites that look like they are from a legitimate company, but are actually designed to steal your personal information. They may try to get you to click on a link that will download malware onto your computer, or they may ask you to enter your personal information into a fake website. Be very careful about clicking on links or opening attachments from unknown sources, even if they look like they are from a trusted company. Keep track of all your purchases and store all their tracking numbers. Be suspicious of “missed delivery” emails and when in doubt, check yourself with the tracking number, typed directly into the official courier website.
A very appealing type of scam that is common during the holidays is “free trial” offers. These offers often seem too good to be true, and that’s because they usually are. The scammer will sign you up for a free trial of a product or service, but then start charging you for it after the trial period is over. They may also sign you up for other products or services without your knowledge. Be sure to read the fine print before signing up for any free trial offers, and be sure to cancel any subscriptions that you don’t want before the trial period is over.
Another example of a common scam is the sale of something that has no value. This could be the case with fake gift cards. These card codes could be already redeemed or just be not valid. Purchase only from trustworthy and official websites.
Last but not least, don’t let your goodwill lower your attention. Bogus charity schemes are most likely during the holiday season. Scammers set up fake charities and solicit donations from unsuspecting people who think they are helping others in need. Be sure to do your research before making any donations to charities, and only give to reputable charities that you know well.
How To Protect Yourself From Online Scams
Fortunately, there are some things you can do to protect yourself from being scammed when shopping online during the holidays:
First, only shop on secure websites. Type the name directly into the browser URL bar and avoid following links from suspicious platforms. This will help protect your personal information from being stolen by hackers.
Second, be cautious of emails and attachments from unknown sources—even if they look like they’re from a trusted company—as these may contain malware designed to steal your personal information or infect your computer with viruses. Always check the sender’s address and immediately delete any email coming from addresses that you don’t recognize.
Third, don’t click on links from unknown sources as these could lead you to fake websites created by scammers designed to steal your personal information or infect your computer with viruses. And finally, make sure your computer has up-to-date security software installed which can help protect against malware and other threats.
Unfortunately, it may also be the case when despite paying attention, you do find yourself the victim of an online scam. It’s not time to give up yet, as there are a few things you can do.
How to report an online scam
If you think you have been the victim of an online scam, there are a few people you can contact. First, you should reach out to the company or website where the scam took place. They may be able to help you get your money back or take other steps to help you. You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC takes reports of scams and works to stop them. To make a report, go to their website and click on “File a Complaint Online.” Finally, you can also contact your local law enforcement agency.
When you make a report, be sure to include as much information as possible about the scam and what happened. This will help the person or organization you are contacting investigate and take action against the scammer.
Conclusions
It is important to be aware of the dangers of online scams when shopping online during the holidays. This is indeed among the most appealing periods of the year, for scammers, to prey on their victims.
Buy only from trustworthy marketplaces, read reviews before making any purchase and, if you still fear the risk, go back to local stores. A good talk, a piece of advice, and recommendations are always included in the price of the present.
About Chris Taylor: Chris is on the Community Review Board for SANS’s OUCH! (the security awareness newsletter designed for everyone), has given over 470 computer-related presentations at the Ottawa Public Library, and is President of the Ottawa PC Users’ Group.
One drawback to using a screensaver is that it doesn’t cut the video signal (even if the screensaver is set to Blank) and this prevents the monitor from going into a low-power state.
On the other hand, power settings in Windows provide the capability of turning off the monitor after a period of inactivity and this feature does cut the signal to the monitor. A modern monitor can then go into a low-power mode.
Go to Settings | System | Power & sleep and select a time for Screen – turn off after.
You can also set the time for individual power plans. Click the Additional power settings link and then Change plan settings.
Unfortunately, the Windows setting to turn off your monitor doesn’t have an option to require re-authentication when the monitor turns back on after you start using the computer again. However, you can combine the two options to get the best of both worlds.
Set your screen saver to On resume, display log-on screen and choose the Wait period you want. Then, in Power & sleep in Settings set the Screen – turn off after to the same time period. The screen saver will ensure re-authentication is required when you resume and the Power & sleep option allows your monitor to go into low-power mode.
While it is possible to use only power options to have Windows prompt for re-authentication when you resume using your computer, it requires modifications to the registry. While not particularly difficult, I don’t think there is a major downside to use the combination of power settings and screensaver as detailed above.
Dynamic lock
You can configure windows to lock your computer if the Bluetooth signal for a paired phone falls below a certain threshold. In Settings| Accounts | Sign-in options under Dynamic lock select Allow Windows to automatically lock your device when you’re away.
Microsoft says Dynamic lock works with “devices that are paired with your PC” but a phone is the “only currently supported configuration”.
I don’t view Dynamic lock as a main means of protection. It only locks your computer after the Bluetooth signal strength drops below a certain level for 30 seconds and it is interrupted by any keyboard or mouse activity. While it might help you if you accidentally walk away from your computer without locking it, a quick-thinking attacker watching you walk out of the room can easily defeat Dynamic lock simply by moving the mouse or pressing a key.
We recently launched GlassWire 3.0 which came with a number of new features: GlassWire Score, Anomaly Detection and the Management Console… but there is a lot more to come! We would like to share with you some of the features we are working on:
GLASSWIRE V3 Windows (APP)
New and Simplified Network Traffic Tab Based on feedback received from our users, we are merging the “Graph” and “Usage” Tab into a new simpler Network Traffic Tab. Stay tuned!
New Tab: Hardware Resources Ever wished your Windows Task Manager gave you a comprehensive history of your PC’s resource utilization metrics? You will soon be able to have one with Glasswire! Next to the Network Traffic Tab, you will soon see a new Hardware Resources tab with a simple to use interface to view historical resource consumption (CPU, Memory, Disk) of all past and present processes and applications running locally on your PC.
New View in Network Traffic tab: Geo Map We are introducing a new view in Network Traffic which will visually and more intuitively show you on a world map where your traffic is going/coming from.
Goodbye Things, welcome Network Scanner The current Things tab is having a makeover. We are renaming it Network Scanner and significantly improving device recognition with the addition of device type, brand and model, so you can better understand what actually is on your network! And by the way, we will soon be moving Network Scanner under the free plan (it’s currently available only to paying subscribers).
GLASSWIRE V3 Management Dashboard (WEB)
Improved endpoint management. We will be enriching the data which is available on the management console (location, username, Organization) in order to allow our heavy-duty users to manage hundreds or thousands of endpoints.
Consolidated reporting across your endpoints. You will soon be able to aggregate historical data traffic reporting (and eventually hardware resource utilization) across your endpoint, seeing totals for your organization (or home) and/or outliers amongst your user base.
New alerts management to allow you to configure email alerting if any anomaly is detected in any of your endpoints.
Austin, November 17, 2022 Securemix LLC. and Domotz Inc. announced today that the companies have entered into a strategic partnership that will enhance the commercial capabilities of GlassWire.
The commercial distribution agreement will allow Domotz to resell the GlassWire software providing even greater strength to GlassWire’s growth efforts.
The partnership brings together the expertise of two players active in the network monitoring space.
GlassWire is an application that provides complete visibility and control over digital traffic generated or received by an end-user endpoint on a computer network. With over 30 million downloads since inception and hundreds of thousands of daily users, the software is currently one of the most popular and well-recognized traffic monitoring solutions for windows PC and android. The company is expanding its offering from the Prosumer market to the IT professional and Enterprise space.
Domotz, established in 2015, is a fast-growing US-based company that operates in the IT Asset Management, Network Visibility, and Telemetry space, helping thousands of IT Professionals, System Admins, and MSPs manage their network infrastructure in over 110 countries worldwide.
In the future, the two companies plan to exploit more partnership opportunities.
Gain even more visibility into your network traffic with our latest features!
We have been working hard over the past months to improve our software and we are proud to announce the introduction of some new and exciting features. We believe they will radically improve your understanding of all the network traffic generated from your PCs.
GW Score – To further enhance GlassWire as an endpoint security solution, we have introduced the GW Score, which will allow you to gain better insights into the safety of the applications running on your PC. Thanks to the GW Score, based on an algorithm that analyzes the applications’ popularity, you will understand if any applications running on your machine are “one of a kind” and therefore potentially dangerous. If you do use customized software, you can mark it as “safe”.
The GW Score ranges from 0 to 100%. If an application looks suspicious (typically runs on less than 1% of users’ machines), you can immediately block it, thanks to GlassWire’s firewall.
Anomaly Detection – Did you ever wonder if the amount of traffic generated by your computer can be considered normal? To help you understand it, we have developed a new feature called “Traffic Anomaly Detection”. By analyzing the volume and frequency of your data streams, GlassWire can identify anomalies in your network traffic and suspicious applications.
You will find these new features on the Security Tab of your GlassWire App.
Create your GlassWire account
By creating an account you will gain access to your personal GlassWire Management Console. The Management Console is a dashboard that you can access from anywhere, allowing you to view and manage all endpoints associated with your account. Within the Management console you can access and make changes to your account information, manage billing details, upgrade your plan and add all the endpoints you need!
Click on the button below to download the new GlassWire.
About Chris Taylor: Chris is on the Community Review Board for SANS’s OUCH! (the security awareness newsletter designed for everyone), has given over 470 computer-related presentations at the Ottawa Public Library, and is President of the Ottawa PC Users’ Group.
In September (https://www.glasswire.com/blog/2022/09/16/how-to-disable-automatic-sign-in-to-windows) I showed how to disable automatic sign-in to Windows and make sure all user accounts have passwords. There are other areas where you might want to consider ensuring authentication is required to maximize security and help ensure your information, privacy, and identity are protected.
Sleep
If you have your computer sleep after a period of time, it is a good practice to require authentication when the computer wakes up.
Go to Settings|Accounts|Sign-in options. In the section Require sign-in set If you’ve been away, when should Windows require you to sign in again to When PC wakes from sleep. In Windows 11, the section is titled Additional settings.
Screen savers
Screen savers get their name from old-style monitors that were highly susceptible to “burn in” if left with the same contents on the screen for a long period of time, resulting in a ghost image permanently etched in. While modern monitors are not (as) susceptible, some people still use screen savers. If you sometimes step away from your computer while a screen saver is active, a good practice is to have re-authentication required when you start using the computer again.
Microsoft has still not migrated the configuration of screen savers to the 10-year-old Settings app! Go to Settings | Personalization | Lock screen, and click the link to Screen saver settings to open the Control Panel applet for Screen Saver Settings.
Put a checkmark in the box On resume, display log-on screen.
Immediately lock the computer
If you are going to step away from your computer, it is a good practice to lock the computer. The simplest way is to press
(Windows key+L) to lock the computer. You will have to re-authenticate to access the computer again.
When Windows turns off the display
There is one other area of concern—when Windows is set to turn off the display after a period of inactivity. It is surprisingly difficult to add the requirement to re-authenticate when you bring the display back to life. I will cover that next month.
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