Blog

How GlassWire 1.2 saves your memory and resources

facebook_banner2

Try GlassWire 1.2 now!

One of the most popular things about GlassWire is our network time machine feature.  GlassWire allows you to go back in time to see network usage details at specific dates and times.  For example if you see a network spike on GlassWire’s graph from while you were away from your computer, or even two days ago you can drill down to that day/time and click the graph to see what apps and hosts caused the change.  Basic, Pro, and Elite GlassWire users can go back in time on even much larger scales from months to years.  When we first launched GlassWire we were very excited about this feature and our users were too because we haven’t seen any other software that can do this.  Over time we learned why nobody else had a network time machine feature. It’s because implementing this feature is very hard!

pretty_graph

Soon our users began to complain about GlassWire using too much memory, and in some cases GlassWire’s service would crash and stop working due to a 2GB memory limit with Windows itself.  Most normal GlassWire users wouldn’t see this problem but heavy BitTorrent users were constantly complaining because they would access thousands of hosts simultaneously. All this BitTorrent network data would cause GlassWire’s memory usage to steadily increase until its service would fail to function.  On our message board and at our helpdesk we’d often have to ask users to uninstall GlassWire, then reinstall, or delete their history to fix this problem.  Obviously this was not a good solution and we felt terrible recommending this to our users.

We realized we had to solve the problem but we weren’t sure what to do.  Our team tested different options and finally came up with a solution.  Unfortunately this solution meant that we had to rewrite GlassWire to completely change how it stored and accessed host data for the graph.  This was a tough pill to swallow but we put our heads down and over several months we made it happen with GlassWire 1.2.

You’re probably wondering how GlassWire 1.2 is different than our previous versions.  This new version of GlassWire only requests the amount of host data needed to draw the graph for its selected time period so it uses much less memory.  GlassWire keeps the data it isn’t currently using in a cache that it can access at any time.  We tried to make these changes invisible to most users but you may see “loading data…” occasionally when accessing some data over long time periods.  For example the “Usage” tab may sometimes say “loading data” when it’s updating.  This brief delay to load data allows GlassWire to access and display the data you need while keeping overall memory usage much lower than it was before.  You may also notice how we broke up GlassWire’s database into several sections to make it load more efficiently.

We feel the minimal delay to “load” data is worth the trade off to keep GlassWire’s overall memory footprint much lower and we hope you feel the same way.  Please note that over time as we optimize GlassWire further these “loading…” events should decrease more and more.

We’d like to thank our alpha testing team who helped us find bugs in this new unreleased version.  Without their help our jobs would have been a lot more difficult and taken a lot longer.

If you haven’t already please try GlassWire 1.2 and check out the memory optimizations, along with many other improvements including optimizations for Microsoft Surface tablets, improvements in our data counter on the main graph, Turkish language support, plus many other bug fixes and optimizations.

Thank you for your support and patience while our team worked hard on this major rewrite of GlassWire.  Now we have a stable base to move forward and continue to improve.  As always, if you have anything to say please let us know on Twitter or our forum so we can get your feedback.

Sincerely, The GlassWire Team

GlassWire 1.2 DownloadChange List

 

 

Blog

Are you using a VPN?

BestVPN-Logo

Are you using a VPN yet?

The Washington Post recently reported that the National Security Agency data will be shared with other intelligence agencies like the FBI without first applying screens for privacy.  The ACLU of Massachusetts has blogged about why this is important.  The ACLU of Massachusetts says ” Now, FBI agents can query the NSA’s database of Americans’ international communications, collected without warrants pursuant to Section 702 of the 2008 FISA Amendments Act.”

Perhaps you don’t mind that the NSA may be logging your communications but did you know your Internet Service Provider is probably doing the same?  TorrentFreak posted that almost all service providers keep logs for an extended period of time.  For example Time Warner Cable keeps logs for 6 months and Verizon keeps logs for 18 months.

One way to help keep your online activity private is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).  A VPN is a network connection that allows you to create a secure connection over the public Internet to private networks at a another remote location.

For example if you are connected to a VPN from a coffee shop WiFi then the VPN sends an encrypted stream of data over the WiFi network so your Internet access is hidden from the coffee shop WiFi network.  A VPN probably doesn’t keep your network related history private from government agencies like the NSA, but it may protect you from ISP or coffee shop WiFi snooping.

Some of these VPN providers claim to have no logging policies where they don’t log any data at all so your Internet usage remains private while others do log.  How do you know which VPN service to choose?

Out friends at BestVPN have made a list of VPN services rated by operating system, country, if they log or not, among many other options.  If you’re interested in trying out a VPN check out the lists provided by BestVPN and choose one you feel satisfied with by clicking the link directly below.

Get a VPN NowBestVPN Reviews

Blog

Have you been MouseJacked?

2000px-Mouse-cursor-hand-pointer.svg

Has your PC been MouseJacked?

Are you so paranoid about security that you use a wired mouse and keyboard?  If so then you made the right move and you don’t have to worry about getting MouseJacked.  However, if you use a wireless mouse or keyboard you might want to take preventative measures.

Most popular wireless computer mice and keyboards can highjacked from 100 yards away according to a security company called Bastille who set up the website MouseJack.com.  If you use a wireless mouse from Microsoft, Logitech, Lenovo, Dell, HP, Gigabyte, or Amazon along with many others your mouse may be susceptible to a MouseJack attack.

The attack works by exploiting a weakness in the protocols used between the different devices.  A remote PC can be set up with a dongle that allows it to interact with all the computers nearby with wireless mice and keyboards.  Press the Windows key on your own keyboard and see how broadcasting a saved set of keystrokes through a MouseJack could leave all the nearby computers compromised.  The MouseJacker could make all nearby PCs do whatever they want, for example making all nearby PCs visit a website with known exploitable malware.  Once the MouseJacker has access to the PC he can give himself any other type of remote access he or she wants.

So far Logitech already has a fix.  If you use another type of wireless mouse or keyboard you can check with the manufacturer website, or switch to a wired keyboard or mouse until the problem is solved.