Anonymizer: New Products Forthcoming

Discussion in 'privacy technology' started by Pleonasm, Jan 6, 2010.

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  1. Pleonasm

    Pleonasm Registered Member

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    It appears that Anonymizer is preparing a “major new product release”:

    What does this forum community know about the new offerings from Anonymizer?
     
  2. hierophant

    hierophant Registered Member

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    Well, there's the fact that Anonymizer was purchased in May 2008 by Abraxas.

    http://www.anonymizer.com/consumer/media/press_releases/05012008.html

    That's a press release from Anonymizer's website, so it's not speculation.

    The Abraxas-CIA connection is OTOH somewhat speculative. Google well, and take your decision. I wouldn't go anywhere near them. Your mileage may vary.

    Also, BTW, the Richard Helms who heads Abraxas isn't the former CIA director, Richard McGarrah Helms, who died in 2002. I don't see in NNDB http://www.nndb.com/people/212/000024140/ that they're related, FWIW.
     
  3. box750

    box750 Registered Member

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    Maybe they are fixing it and the new product will work with Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 8??

    Just a guess. Anonymizer website says that their product is not compatible with Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 8.
     
  4. SteveTX

    SteveTX Registered Member

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    iPhone compatible... sounds like either more DLL injection or a Relakk's-like service of PPTP. We will tear it apart as soon as it is released and give you a report.
     
  5. Pleonasm

    Pleonasm Registered Member

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    The new product has arrived: Anonymizer Universal. It is a VPN service, allowing two simultaneous connections for $80/year.

    I look forward to a critical and detailed analysis of Anonymizer’s new product by the members of the forum community.
     
  6. Pleonasm

    Pleonasm Registered Member

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    Steve, please provide your objective, professional assessment of the Anonymizer Universal product, including both its advantages and disadvantages relative to xB VPN.

    Thank you.
     
  7. SteveTX

    SteveTX Registered Member

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    Ah. Thanks for the update. I will add it to our testing list and put it at the top for the next session.
     
  8. ex_ployt_ed

    ex_ployt_ed Registered Member

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    "Objective" assessment?

    You do realize that SteveTX is a competitor, don't you?

    Would you ask Eugene Kaspersky for an "objective, professional assessment" of the latest release from, say, TrendMicro?

    What about asking Steve Gibson, of grc.com, for his "objective, professional assessment" of the similar online security checks available at sites such as pcflank.com, auditmypc.com or securitymetrics.com ?

    (I have no stakes whatsoever here. No expertise either.)
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2010
  9. Pleonasm

    Pleonasm Registered Member

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    Of course. And, if there are weaknesses in the Anonymizer Universal service, I expect him to share those insights -- all of which will then be subject to critical examination by this forum community.

    SteveTX, when you do expect to provide your analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the Anonymizer Universal service?
     
  10. hierophant

    hierophant Registered Member

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    As ugly as it might get, I do believe that open discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of available anonymity/privacy services -- both commercial and collaborative -- would be useful to both users and developers. I'm almost certain that developers, given their expertise, know more about each other's offerings than most users can ever hope to learn.

    OTOH, it could get really ugly. Although I'm sure that anti-malware companies test each other's products, I don't recall seeing many "we broke your product" sorts of claims. It'd be rather mixed publicity for the winner(s), IMHO.

    AFAIK, there are no neutral testing projects for such services, or at least, none that are comparable to those that rate anti-malware products. Is that so?
     
  11. Pleonasm

    Pleonasm Registered Member

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    To the best of my knowledge, there exist no independent organizations that test anonymity services and publish results (unfortunately).
     
  12. ljg

    ljg Registered Member

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    I've been checking back to see if any testing ever got off the ground and, more than a month later, all I see is a discussion about having a discussion.

    Kinda disappointing, if you ask me.
     
  13. LockBox

    LockBox Registered Member

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    I'd say that's your cue to start testing. Why wait for others to do it?
     
  14. ljg

    ljg Registered Member

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    Because I don't have the technical knowledge?
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2010
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