Tags: cyber security / Information Technology / infosec / network / security / VPN

Access Geo-restricted content and hide your online activity with HideIPVPN [Review]

- Wednesday, 21 January 2015 No Comments

While the dawn of internet has bridged the barriers of communications and made intangible information within reaching distance, its state of privacy issues are still mind numbing to date. With many websites and online services being limited geographically, accessing these services need a work around. Also, as an internet user, one must be quite aware that he is never safe from the clutches of eavesdroppers on the internet. Your ISP also has access to your internet browsing activities and to keep away from eavesdroppers, accessing geo-restricted sites and to hide your IP address, you would need a smart tool that does all of them.

Why use a VPN?

VPN or Virtual Private Network providing tool is what that will be needed in your online invincibility endeavours. What the VPN technology does exactly is that routes your outgoing online data through its own server to keep the data away from other third parties. This data is completely encrypted and as many users simultaneously access these servers, the potential eavesdropper couldn’t possibly trace back to the content owner.

Once you’ve decided you will need a VPN for protecting your online activities, you will need to find a tool that fits the perfect mould for you. Here we will be taking look at one such powerful VPN tool.

HideIPVPN – An Introduction

Having the right tool for the task goes a long way in helping you accomplish what you set out for. HideIPVPN is a premium VPN tool for safeguarding your online activities. What makes this tool the best fit for your online activities is that this tool comes bundled with features that make it easily benefitting to both the novice and advanced internet users. For getting started and trying things out, you can download the 24 hours free trial VPN server at their official website. You can download the Mac OS X or the Windows variant, depending on your operating system. The download comes in at 2.5MB and the installation is straightforward. You will be presented with a screen as shown below upon launching the tool.

The login details for your account will be emailed to you once you register at their official website. Further ahead, we will be taking a look at the simplicity and robustness of this tool that makes it better placed to be your VPN service.

Setting up VPN with HideIPVPN

The setup of VPN with HideIPVPN is completely straightforward. Once you have your login details ready, enter those at the home screen and hit sign in. Now you will be presented with a screen seen below.

At this window, you can select a few things like your preferred VPN Protocol, the server location and once done, hit connect. That’s it! And now your online data is untraceable by eavesdroppers.  This simplicity makes HideIPVPN very popular amongst its users.

We will be taking a look at some of the other options it provides while accessing the VPN.

HideIPVPN Settings

You can easily access the settings panel from the left-sidebar and see a few toggle bars and support for further updates. Among these settings are the options to run-at-startup and reconnect if connection drops.

These are the basic settings for the application that let you decide when to connect to your VPN service.

HideIPVPN Advantages

Access Geo-Restricted content

If you access networks like Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Sky Go, ESPN, and such; you must know that they are inaccessible if you are at a location they are not officially supported at.  Now you can easily access these networks by choosing the VPN location that is supported by these networks and hit ‘Connect’.

Now you will never miss your favourite shows and content on geo-restricted websites.

Spoof your IP Address

Spoofing your IP address is one way to stay off the grid. HideIPVPN automatically does that for you when you connect to one of their VPN servers.

Application killer

HideIPVPN includes a handy little feature that lets you define the applications that get automatically closed when the connection drops. This feature prevents you from sending data unprotected, when your VPN connection automatically gets disconnected.

Access VPN on three devices simultaneously

With support for multiple devices, HideIPVPN supports access to one single account from three devices, simultaneously.

Free SmartDNS

When you register to the premium plans at HideIPVPN, you get SmartDNS along with it.

Pricing

Users can make use of the standard OpenVPN encryption technology or choose from PPTP or SSTP from the tool. Users can also select their VPN server between United States, Germany, UK and Netherlands. The pricing for US or UK VPN is at $5.99 per month. For an all-inclusive US/UK/DE/NL server, it is priced at $9.99 per month.

Conclusion – Simple and Powerful VPN for everyday user

HideIPVPN is the simplest VPN tool that provides better service for both the novice and the power user. Safeguard your internet data and identity by using this nifty VPN service. Being lightweight and ease of shifting between multiple servers, this is the best VPN service in its price range. Although it has a few servers compared to its competitors, it gets the job done perfectly, on a budget.

Simply one of the most recommended tool for internet users sceptical about their online privacy.

Our Rating – 4.8 Out of 5

Tags: Assurance / innovation / mobile app development / mobile apps / mobile enterprise / mobility / network / Quality / team management

What Happens When Quality And Assurance Teams Integrate?

- Tuesday, 20 January 2015 No Comments

With the expansion of mobile applications and the requirement to work and play with them, renewing and redesigning of applications have become more important, yet corporate potentials in regards to advancement plans and arrangements frequently remain well-established. Poor application evaluations can actually affect corporate reputations, yet the race to market makes it hard to test enough.

One range where groups do have control of their activities - and can impact a helpful change through them - is by working together all the more adequately. The old practice of developers dealing with code until they think its carried out and after that punting it over the divider to the Q/A office just doesn't work in today's advancement surroundings, but the practice proceeds.

Following are a few ideas that will help you achieve more "integration of people" while picking up a superior product and a less stressful workplace simultaneously.

      Combine Together and Learn New Things

The requirement for group coordinated effort in innovation advancement is not something new, yet it has become a crucial part. In 2012, analysts at San Francisco State University verified that the essential reason 10% of software development projects fizzle (and more than half miss their target release date or go over their budget) because of less or absence of communication, association and collaboration.

They hypothesized that organizations could anticipate whether a task would encounter issues by measuring how regularly the different groups included in the project has worked together, imparted through email or performed different sorts of communication. The majority of their discoveries showed that these soft abilities are important for any software project to get success but then consistently, I work with organizations whose improvement and QA groups are still siloed in their own different worlds.

The issue, obviously, is that people are creature of their habits, and it is simpler to continue doing things in a way that is counter-profitable than it is to roll out an improvement - regardless of how useful it may be. Consider group building activities where, actually for 60 minutes, engineers sit with analyzers/Q/A people, and the other way around. Go out for a stroll in one another's shows (with direction from an "expert" obviously) and perceive the extent to which it changes viewpoints.

Take a Page from the Agile Book

I would say, engineers who have adopted even a little of agile procedures have the least demanding time working with others as a group. Most firms with whom I work are working with components of both waterfall and agile - successfully a hybrid solution environment.

If the organizations have arrived at the point where analyzers are creating experiments before coding begins, and designers are building usefulness in incremental units, joint effort between the development and QA groups turns into a much less demanding procedure.

Why is this? For one thing, with agile approaches, projects do not advance so far down the road when issues occur late in the improvement cycle, it becomes easier to place fault than to simply settle the issue. Second, the quicker pace of agile cycles forces teams to cooperate at some level, which urges them to keep moving towards a genuinely synergistic environment.

        End Finger Pointing

As long as the process of development and Q/A groups are encircling each other, taking part in finger pointing when release dates slip or imperfections aren't found until creation, it is troublesome for them to see one another as partners. Analyzers blame software engineers for careless coding; programmers say analyzers didn't compose apt cases or weren't trying quick or regularly enough. The most ideal approach to end this practice is through better documentation and responsibility.

Devices or authorized documentation strategies can help with this exertion. There are bunch approaches to implement such efforts (and likely many books to guide you), and the methodology you take will be very indigent upon the strategies and advancement/testing stages you have received. To show the potential outcomes, I have given two samples from the Orasi weapons store, both of which work just with HP products.

Convey a responsibility apparatus or instrument that oversees work process and requires computerized confirmation and verification of who dealt with which tasks. One example is Orasi Digital Authenticator, which helps HP ALM customers get administrative consistence documentation under control.

- Structure (and ideally automatic) the correspondence stream in the middle of engineer and analyzer. One sample is JIRA Bridge, one peculiarity of which is to consequently synchronize data about imperfections and requirements between the engineer and analyzer. At the point when a bit of code fizzles testing, the framework naturally sends the subtle elements and circumstances of the imperfection once more to the coder, ruling out for distortion.

This methodology may appear to be unreasonable to the thought of open communication, yet obliging groups to accept their work and archive their communications will decrease blame on laying. Moreover, the straightforward demonstration of digitizing (and shockingly better, robotizing) these communication speeds the improvement procedure, decreases errors and shows groups how a great deal more they can attain to working collaboratively and communicatively.

        Simply Get Started

Some of these proposals may be past the range of your firm; others might as of now be set up. Take from this article what meets expectations for you - the thought is to surprise the apple cart in a positive manner and change team attitude (likely including your own) to be one of solidarity, not division.

Creative groups will investigate a mixed bag of avenues for launching the dialog, regardless of the possibility that it is not in person. Without a doubt crossing the walkway needn't be a physical walk. Frequently, it is more a matter of moving one's outlook than moving one's feet. Be the first in your organization to move yours and check whether organization pioneers don't pay heed.

Author Bio:

Macy Jones is an intelligent and innovative Mobile App developer working with a leading App Development Company in Sydney, Australia. She completed her graduation in computers and now building her career in mobile apps. She is very fond of iPhone and love to try new ideas over it. After her programming and coding she likes to write blogs and articles for her official websites. You can get her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter to know all the more about her achievements.

Tags: How To Guides / infosec / network / security / Wi-Fi

How To Stay Safe When Using Public Wi-Fi? 9 Awesome Tactics to Remain Safe with Public Wi-Fi Networks

- Saturday, 27 December 2014 No Comments

Who does not like things that are available for free? It feels really good when you do not have to pay for the things that you are using. But be aware. Not everything which is available for free is good for you. Hence it is important for you to keep your eyes open and be conscious about what all you are going to do. For example, there are a number of free public WI-Fi hotspots but not every hotspot provides protection like your home network provides you.

Your notebook, your smart phones and your tablets offer your default settings that keep you safe from all prying eyes while you are on the way. If you really want to keep your files and information secured, here are some essential tips that will help you in protecting your documents and files secured when you are away from your home.

       Turn Off Sharing

You must be sharing your music library, printers or files or even you will be allowing remote login from other computers on your personal Wi-Fi network at home. If you do not disable these settings before you share any other public Wi-Fi network, anyone else will be able to hack your PC in your vicinity.

       Get a VPN

This VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and is considered as the most secured way of browsing the internet on a public network. This VPN will route your traffic through a secure network, even when using in public WI-Fi and will provide you with all the perks of our private network while you still be having a freedom of using a public Wi-Fi.

While there exist free VPN services, where a paid VPN service guarantees the integration of your connection. If you connect regularly to some unknown networks, setting your VPN could be a smart move for protecting your personal information.

       Try Not To Use Wi-Fi Spots That Connect Automatically

Your smart phone or a tablet might be set to get connected with the WI-Fi that gets connected automatically, but this could be very dangerous for you and your personal information. Not only this will allow your device to get connected to the public networks, but will also get connected to the malicious networks that will steal your specific and useful information.

       Make Use of HTTPS

Generally websites transfer the content in plain texts, making it easy for anyone who has hacked your network information. Many websites make use of HTTPS to find out the encrypted transferred data, but you should not rely on these websites for keeping you protected.

You can always keep this encrypted connection with the HTTPS browser extension everywhere. With the help of this plugin enabled, almost all your website connections get secured with HTTPS and will make you sure that any kind of data transfer is safe from all the prying eyes available in the market.

      Two-Factor Authentication Should Be Used

Two-factor authentication means that you have to use two pieces of information for logging into your account. The first information is that you already know and the other is that you have with you. Most of the time this takes a kind of information and a code that is being sent to your cell phone.

Many popular websites and services will support you two-factor authentication. This will mean that even if someone gets your password because of your bad and unreliable Wi-Fi network, they won’t be able to login to your account.

       Always Confirm The Name Of Your Network

Sometimes hackers use fake Wi-Fi network to attract innocent public Wi-Fi users. If the Wi-Fi is not named properly, it means the Wi-Fi is fake and connecting to it could make your device into the hands of malicious users that could misuse your personal information for     

Protect Your Passwords

It is good to use unique and original passwords for protecting your different accounts and this will also help you in keeping your accounts well compromised. By keeping a track of multiple secure passwords will become tricky for you. It would be good to keep your passwords safe and secured that nobody could misuse your personal information.

   

       Turn on Your Firewall

Most of the Operating Systems offer built-in-firewall settings which will monitor your incoming and outgoing connections. A firewall will not provide you complete protection, but this is a setting that you need to keep enabled always.

When you use Windows notebook, you can locate your firewall settings in the Control panel when you look into the System and Security. Click on the Windows Firewall and click on the Turn Windows Firewall On or Off whatever you want. Enter your admin password that will verify that your Windows Firewall is on. 

       Run Anti-Virus Software

Running your up-to-date anti-virus software will help you in providing the first alert if your system has been compromised well while it is being connected to an unsecured network. An alert will show you if any virus is being loaded onto your PC or if there is any strange behavior of your system like modifications to the registry of the files.

By keeping these 9 points in mind, you can always be sure that you are working safe with your PC or your mobile device while using it with a publicaly shared Wi-Fi network.

It is possible that your anti-virus software might not catch all the unauthorized activities while running, but this is a great way of protecting your mistakes against most of the network attacks.

Author Bio: Kaylyn Gabriele is a Network Engineer who has completed her graduation in Networking from Canada University. She is also responsible for organizing various Network Administrator Programs for the same university. After this she is very good with technical writing and she likes to share her views about Networking and Technical issues in her blogs. Also she keeps on sharing tips and tricks regarding networking and technology. Writing posts and articles is her hobby and she lives up to her readers’ expectations almost every time. Follow her on Twitter and catch her on Facebook to know her better.