Untraceable company

so we are supposed to trust a free firewall thats not open source, yet their website reveals absolutely no info about the supposed company at all. For all we know, a bunch of hackers siphoning credit card details to russia. No company names, address, nothing...I'd be veerry careful..if you've nothing to hide then why the cloak of anonymity..?

 

thanks for your insight, untraceable guest...

 

Look here is another site which validates GhostWall :- http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Firewall/GhostWall.shtml

I don't handle credit cards myself, RegSoft (http://www.regsoft.com) and PayPal, do that for me. Also with the free firewall, you don't need a credit card to try it, as it's free.

Shouldn't you find out if it has anything bad in it if you want people to support your suspicious outlook of Ghost Security, or is scare mongering easier? If you think it has spyware/adware/activeX in it or whatever, don't try it, but maybe you should find out the truth instead of just talking about possibilities. For instance I could just jump to the conclusion you are another firewall vendor who is threatened by GhostWall, but I have no evidence to support it, so I wouldn't say it.

 

How many of the major firewall vendors (in the sense of having been in existance for years) that offer both free/paid firewalls are open source? Deffinately not ZoneAlarm & Sygate, and I don't think Kerio or Outpost are either.

Exactly, so come out of the closet and register. Why the apparent unwarrented attack on Jason and GhostSecurity?

Wise words, take advantage of them.

 

Here's another thought: The company has its own official forum on this web site. Suggesting anything shady about Ghost Security is also suggesting that this whole site, and all who run it, is either shady as well, or not smart enough to know the difference.
So, suspicious, what's your real point here?

 

Don't feed the troll

 

I think suspicious is worried that if they use GhostWall, then all traffic is then filtered by the firewall, and so this sensitive data (eg. credit cards etc.) could be picked up by GhostWall and sent off elsewhere.

However, this is not a problem since when browsing secure sites (ie. https://), all data is encrypted by the browser (ie. before it reaches the firewall driver), so GhostWall (or any other firewall) only ever sees encrypted data.

 

First, let me say that I do not in any way believe that Ghost Security or any of its products are suspicious. Jason makes good products.

That said, there is a crucial issue brought up in the original troll's post that no-one, including Jason, seems prepared to address.

We are a professional IT support company, with internet security a speciality of ours. Part of our service to clients is their training, especially in promoting sensible habits when surfing the internet or purchasing on-line.

One of the issues that people face is how to come to a decision of trust, i.e., how do you know whether to trust a vendor, especially when purchasing one of their products (yes, I know Ghostwall is free, but some other Ghost Security products are not)?

One of the criteria we teach clients is to first verify the standing of the vendor, part of which process is to check that the vendor publishes a verifiable address and telephone number. If they don't publish this information on their web site, we advise our clients to stay away from them. It is sound advice.

Clearly, this would include Ghost Security. A pity, maybe, but it begs the question why Jason does not publish such information. I would urge you, Jason, to rectify this situation.

 

Hi spm, This is a problem that most small and even not so small developers have.
Can you imagine being a small developer with a worldwide market being able to handle business phone calls whilst trying to do work?

Jason has built up his personal credentials with the excellent programs he has produced.

OK this has taken time but all businesses have to start somewhere. Jason has not targeted the corporate market with his current software but maybe, in time, he will do and that will probably involve employing staff and all the other requirements of a growing business.

Even NSclean do not publish their address or telephone number on the web and they are a well established security company but there support is excellent and they do have corporate customers, so it can be done.

Anyway I wish Jason all the best in his future endeavors.

Pilli

 

Too right... I'll second that. Good luck mate!!

 

This is a red herring. I know exactly what it is like to be a small developer with a worldwide market. Do you?

My comments stand. Of course, there are those that believe anonymity is the route to trust and a growing business, but I am not one of them.

 

Hi, spm

Are you by any chance also a Farmer?

Take Care,
TheQuest

 

Do you understand what the heck you are saying?

I can't speak for everyone, but if I was a program developer like Jason, I sure as hell wouldn't give out my phone number and address to anyone.

He is just one guy. It's not like this is some big company that has a whole department of people answering and directing calls. If he were to publish his phone number, he would be getting calls at all hours of the day and night. Can you imagine what that would be like? Most of the calls would be from people with questions and problems and he would be spending all of his time on the phone.

Look, in the computer security industry, I know that having a live forum where random people can come together and freely discuss a product has got to be one of the greatest things a security software developer can have. And the fact that Jason answers the questions and comments people post and the fact that he addresses the issues is another huge benefit.

I think having a forum like this is better than any phone number you can put on a website.

just my 2 cents.

 

Yes.

Indeed. I find it somewhat puzzling that those who clearly do not run their own (small) business seem to be such authorities on the matter.

 

Hi Peter,

Well, I run a small business (this is not the IT support one I referred to earlier in this thread) and have over 10,000 clients (of which a somewhat smaller number are actively using our products at any one time). By releasing quality products, with forum-based and e-mail based support, our telephone burden is not an issue. Very few clients use the phone for support - almost all use e-mail, and a few use our forums.

The telephone is normally used by clients for purchases and enquiries (though most still purchase on-line). I can hardly consider it a burden to answer the phone to take customer orders.

Of course, I do not use our home phone line, but have a dedicated business line.

This is a common scenario, and one which is mirrored by many other small businesses I am in touch with.

And, it's not a matter of whether my clients trust my recommendations - of course they do - but if you think I should instruct all our clients to ask me first about an on-line vendor before they purchase anything, you are not thinking straight.

 

First of all, as a customer i can only say that it is VERY reliable company.

2nd " Untraceable company" is of course not true,
take some time and common sense and you'll find even the shoe-size
of Jason.

And why do you trust the company that made your OS then?
It is a bit larger of course (joke) but it has PROOVEN to send
all kinds of YOUR data back to them?

So better DON'T use that OS, certainly DON'T use open source,
because you never really know who you are dealling with!

And a telephone number is not a sign that someone can be trusted
worse ANYone can get a telephonenumber even REAL criminals
can get that.

sorry, but i think this thread is funny, except the suggestion made in the
subject.

 

Oh, for goodness' sake, let's get this back to this planet, shall we?

First, you will see that I have not doubted Jason's trustworthiness. Try reading my posts again.

This thread has nothing to do with your paranoia about Microsoft, so let's hear no more about that, eh?

Any old telephone number is not a sign that someone can be trusted, but a verifiable (again, read what I actually posted) number is a start.

I'm glad for you that you find this funny. I could say that I find your take on this somewhat ignorant.

 

spm, don't take this negatively but the only ignorant one here is you. You believe that you are right and everyone else is wrong. There is more than one way to run a business and you're way isn't the only way.

I don't understand what the big deal is about a phone number? Ok so you have his phone number now, does that change anything? Does that mean now all of a sudden this company can be trusted? I can't grasp the meaning of what you are saying here.

This guy Jason earned a name over here. He has respect. Who cares if he doesn't want to give you his phone number? Do you not understand that he doesn't want to spend his time on the phone as technical support?? This guy has our trust. A trustable person who builds a nice reputation and earns respect doesn't need a phone number to prove anything more. When he feels he is ready to expand, maybe he will. But for now I for one completely understand the decision. And if you weren't "ignorant" you would too. You should respect his decision to not post a phone number. I don't undertand how a phone number would change anythign anyways...?

You keep saying how companies need to have a phone number and address. You keep saying that you tell your clients to avoid companies that don't. Meanwhile you never even explain WHY? And besides, what the hell kind of advice is that anyways? Go get scammed over the phone buy some big time company that gives you their number and their address for you to send them the money. Then come back and cry me a river.

This thread should have been closed after the first reply. Lets end this discussion. It's leading no where.

 

gentlemen if the personal assaults don't cease this thread will be closed. Lets continue with a little restraint please.

bigc

 

I believe many of the posters in this thread are unfortunately missing the fact that there are two distinct trains of thought above. The first is the trolling nonsense by anonymous poster suspicious. The second line is made up of the quite reasonable points made by spm.

Most of us here know Jason, and by extension Ghost Security, from a fairly long exposure through his work for DCS with ProcessGuard, on his own with Cryptosuite, and more recently RegDefend and GhostWall. He has an on-going and very positive track record. Visitors to this forum can hold back a bit before purchasing and will probably surmise the same. There are then the remaining people on the planet who encounter one of GS's products through a random comment, web search, or list encountered somewhere from random sufing about. These are the people of whom spm speaks. The advice spm provides is solid. For a business considering purchasing a product, this type of information can be virtually required. For example, Privacy Software was mentioned above as an example with a similar approach. Well, yes and no. They do provide a fax number, phone support number, and local email address on their website. Now, I'm sure part of the reason this information is available is due to their client base.

I would recommend everyone step back and critically read the posts without jumping to inappropriate conclusions. If I were asked for my opinion, it would not materially differ from that provided by spm.

Blue

 

Follow standard business practices on own website. Leave no suspicions open, there won't be threads/questions like this. Is it so hard? Your customers are the most important. It's your job to earn their trust.

 

I wonder what is standard business practice? Is there some manual or written standard from some association specifying what customer contacts should be required on web business sites?

Actually, web sites seem to be going away from listing phone numbers. They just provide email for customer support. I believe buy.com is an example. Other web sites, make it difficult to find phone numbers.

Providing a phone number and address certainly does not guarantee integrity. What impresses me is a quick response to issues, and if email is the only option and it works well, then that's fine.

This reminds me of people who have savings accounts and still insist upon a savings pass book. Like that ensures the money will be available.