Rappore Technologies of San Jose, CA, hopes its Rappore Shield product, just released in version 1.0, is the solution that paranoid Wi-Fi user’s have dreamed of owning.
“What we’re doing is filtering on the info and data over a wireless link, says Gabe Nault, President of Engineering at Rappore Technologies. “We allow certain ports through and deny others.”
The software only solution, which current runs only on Windows 2000/XP (other versions of Windows to be supported in future releases), is a mini-firewall from other wireless users that may try to modify or steal files from your hard drive or placing files (Trojan Horses or otherwise) there. The company doesn’t consider the product in the same category as personal firewalls like ZoneAlarm, however.
“We have distinguished ourselves from a personal firewall in a couple of ways,” says Scott Richards, Rappore’s Director of Product Management. “Some are complicated and difficult to configure to the point where people turn them off. We’ve tried to make this a one click solution.
“The other thing is they’re built for a static environment and aren’t designed for the road warrior going from the office to Starbucks to the airport. It doesn’t allow them to change their security level based on their location.” Rapporte Shield can be changed easily.
The user interface consists of a pop-up menu for making changes to protection levels, a tray icon to indicate current status, and a setting for making sure which network adapters are actually protected by the software.
The software is currently in beta and is free for evaluation and can be downloaded at www.rappore.com. The full version will be available in October. The price is still under consideration, but volume pricing discounts are expected.