Thumb drive deflector shield
Captain Kirk used to engage the deflector shield to protect the Starship Enterprise when danger lurked nearby. There is a new product on the market in the form of a small thumb drive microprocessor that similarly protects your laptop computer from hackers and spyware. It's called the Pico Gatekeeper from Yoggie Security Systems.
The device is actually a dedicated security hardware appliance that runs on Linux and protects you from hackers when you are using public wireless networks. It also serves as a stand alone security software package so you don't need separate applications such as McAfee or Norton that often cause system conflicts and slow down your processing speed. The Pico Gatekeeper is security software, firewall and virus protection all in a single small package and it actually hides your computer when you are signed on to a wireless network. And they claim that your processing speeds will improve because your computer doesn't have to deal with these chores.
Let's face it ... we are all increasing our use of public wireless networks to access email and the Internet, especially those who travel a lot. Unless you are uninformed or naive, public networks are huge security risks that seldom provide safeguards to prevent "sniffers" from detecting your system, lifting your passwords and intruding into your hard drive. It is shocking how many people don't have security software, firewalls and virus protection on their laptops while they are hooked up to an airport or coffee shop wireless network.
Lest you think this threat is limited to wireless networks, your home or office network is subject to the same intrusions. Yoggie Security Systems provides similar solutions for wired connections.
So I'm going to take the plunge and buy one ... if I experience problems I'll let you know.
Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com
Photo credit = Business Week Magazine