Posted: Wed, September 20, 2006
GhostSurf 2006 Platinum
by Robert Earls
 The idea of protecting your online identity didn't really strike me as a
worthwhile exercise until recently. I knew from experience that every time you visit a website it stores your IP address (a unique number relating specifically to your PC) and a few other pieces of
information such as cookies. But you leave a trail everywhere you go in the real world anyway, "there's no point being paranoid", I told myself.
Your actions are recorded on CCTV everytime you enter a shop. Each time you use your Credit Card, or loyalty card, you can guarantee some computer somewhere has noted it and it will affect
future transactions with the same company. Why else would Tesco offer me money-off coupons for Cravendale milk?
It's all a little bit "Big Brother" but for the most part it's fairly benign. If I'm going to be bombarded with coupons and adverts anyway, they might as well be for something that interests me.
But sometimes, you come across something that stands out as going a little too far. Recently I was randomly surfing and came across two words which stood out like a sore thumb. On a website
about the New York subway, there was my name!
Having never been to this website before, and certainly never registered my name with them I was very puzzled. My mind raced to work out how on earth this website had my name. Now it turns out
there is no privacy concern in this case - Amazon do not pass my name to this website, and my privacy was not breached.
So when Avanquest's GhostSurf arrived on my desk for review I was very keen to try it out. In fact I had a specific, semi-underhand reason to use it. I wanted to find out more about my competitor's
prices without them knowing!
GhostSurf has five separate functions.
- Privacy Control: To make your online experience anonymous
- SpyCatcher: Spyware detector
- Personal Data Vault: A place to store password protected images, passwords and files
- AdArmor: To control the type of adverts you see
- Tracks cleaner: Cleans up cookies and last searched for items etc
Privacy Control
The main function of GhostSurf is the Privacy Control Center. This allows you to set your security settings to one of four settings.
At this point, I didn't really understand why you would want to have anything bar the full "Secure" protection, which boasted, "Personal information and your IP are blocked and all data is
encrypted to prevent spying". So I set the security to maximum and went to www.whatismyip.com.
This website will tell you the IP address of your PC, which I knew should start with 84.92.*.* in fact I was very happy to see this website showed a completely different IP address 66.139.*.* . So I
was off to a good start!
I try the website where the Amazon honor system advert was shown again.
Success! My name was no longer there, which gave me a lot of confidence that I was now anonymous in my surfing. Flushed with this success I carried on with my competitor research - thanks
Tenebril!
I decided to leave GhostSurf on for the month before this review was needed.
The first problem I encountered was that the speed of surfing dramatically slowed down. This is because you are no longer directly connected to websites you surf on, but rather all traffic is re-routed
via another computer. If you cannot connect to this computer, or it is not working, then everything stops.
Secondly, websites that I regularly visit suddenly didn't know who I was! Discussion forums, and other community websites suddenly wanted to know who I was and required me to log in again. The
irony is, sometimes you get used to a little less privacy. With the privacy controls turned on you will have to remember every password you created. With hindsight, of course, this may have been
obvious.
The most serious problem I encountered was with Paypal. Having logged in, Paypal's security system must have noted that I was using some anonymous security package and I was barred from
removing any money until I had provided some proof that an unauthorized party had not accessed my account. This was a real issue, but understandable.
The more I used anonymous surfing the more I realized that it's not something that I wanted left turned on all the time. I'm reminded of that bar in Boston where "everyone knows your name".
Sometimes there is a little comfort in knowing that people are watching!!
However, I have not removed this feature and it is very useful. Sometimes.
Spycatcher
When I installed GhostSurf, I deliberately set it up for a fall. I already have Norton Internet Security and Microsoft Defender installed. Both of which can recognise spyware. Installing a third spyware
program was asking for problems, but I am happy to say that SpyCatcher installed and operates with no problems. It has managed to spot a few genuine problems - but it has also spotted even more false
positives.
Installing the software for a new mouse popped up a warning message which, although I allowed the program to run, managed to crash the mouse installation program.
It also warns me, occasionally, about a spyware program GoHip which I have on my system. I don't know if it is really there. My other spyware programs have not spotted it, and SpyCatcher does not
seem to remove it completely.
Personal Data Vault
This application has the task of storing sensitive data in encrypted files to keep away from prying eyes. Documents, internet favorites and passwords can all be kept in one place with a single password.
Financial Directors could, for example, store away highly confidential Excel spreadsheets.
It works OK, but it doesn't go far enough. It's just too simplistic.
- Although there are folders for files (Documents and Pictures) you cannot create new folders. e.g. to separate out excel spreadsheets from word documents. So having more that a few
documents could become quite tricky
- A comment for each file to say WHY it's sensitive might be useful
- Passwords require more that just login and password field. How about a clickable URL, second password (as a lot of financial institution require) or alternative logins for admin or users. Or again, a
comments field so you know who to ring when you cannot get access
AdArmor
Being constantly bombarded with adverts, especially when they slow down your surfing is frustrating, so the idea of turning them off is very appealing. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing if that
pop-up window is really an advert or something important.
I started off by using this feature, but turned it off when I because frustrated with sites which did not work as I wanted them too.
TracksCleaner
Thankfully, this is one part of GhostSurf which does exactly what it says on the tin. When using your PC on a day to day basis you leave a trail of documents and websites you have opened which
could be used by someone who has gained unauthorised access to your PC - TracksCleaner tidies up all these loose ends.
You might think that you have deleted that spreadsheet of Director's bonuses. But an inquisitive employee might find it in your recycle bin. TracksCleaner will delete most references to recent
documents you have accessed, quickly and efficiently.
Conclusion
GhostSurf does what it sets out to do. The DataVault is possibly the weakest application, which can easily be replaced by any number of free and more advanced alternatives.
There were a few issues I had with SpyCatcher, which a novice might stumble on, but basically it does quite a good job.
But the main crux of this program is anonymous surfing, which is a two edged sword. I cannot fault the program because it does exactly what it sets out to do. However, for me, total anonymity is not
an option. I am willing to give up a little anonymity to have a more comfortable browsing experience. That said, I still have it installed and it's useful to switch on occasionally.
GhostSurf 2006 Platinum is produced by Tenebril, and published by Avanquest Software. The software is available directly from Avanquest at www.shop.avanquest.com/uk/prod.php?pid=1254 for £19.99.
About the Author
Robert Earls has worked for many years as a Technical Consultant in the IT industry. He now runs a successful online business
www.argentice.co.uk.
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