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Putting AlphaShields up assures computer security

By James Coates
Chicago Tribune

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Whenever any of us connects a personal computer to the Internet, it starts broadcasting our Internet protocol (IP) address, which is assigned by the Internet service provider.

With an IP address in hand, a skilled hacker can attack through as many as 65,535 points of entry, called ports. The hacker can flood a targeted computer with requests to exchange data. Each request goes to a different sub-address or port. It's like twisting a radio's dial to find a station — only with a computer the listening goes both ways.

Attacks by the infamous MS Blaster worm and the SoBig e-mail virus have been able to cause major problems simply by finding an open port.

On the other hand, unless you open a port, nothing at all can be accomplished on the Internet. Ports must be opened to send e-mail and to receive it. Web pages are called up by sending out an address, and the data must pass through a port to display on your screen.

Many people buy firewall software to guard their ports, but this isn't a pretty picture. A firewall must be configured to order some ports open and others blocked. Worse still, most firewalls continually pop up messages reporting efforts to infiltrate the machine.

With the Internet's cacophony of traffic always swirling, addressing these probes, called pings, can make using firewall software seem worse than getting hacked.

So the Canadian engineers behind AlphaShield in Burnaby, B.C., developed a small box that avoids the whole open-port-vs.-closed-port issue by using artificial intelligence to automatically hide a user's computer and to distribute the IP address only to those for whom it is essential.

Vikash Sami, the chief executive officer at AlphaShield, explained that the artificial-intelligence programming built into the device's circuitry permits a computer to reach out and connect with other machines to download files or exchange Instant Messages (IMs).

The way it handles IM traffic illustrates both the power and the drawbacks of cloaking one's computer.

With your AlphaShields up, only you can initiate these messages to your friends. They cannot see you and call first. But once you're connected, Instant Messaging works as always. The same restrictions exist with video conferencing and other collaborative pursuits.

The device stops many pop-up ads, but far from all because it permits pop-ups generated by the Web page being visited itself. Still, those third-party pop-ups that sniff out your IP address are dead meat.

So are those dangerous Windows Messenger windows that appear at the bottom of the screen with ads and dangerous ActiveX and Java programs that look like official stuff from Microsoft.

In tests for this review, the AlphaShield worked fine using remote PC access services like I'm In Touch. But it does not work with stand-alone remote-control software like LapLink and PC Anywhere.

One very nice feature to the AlphaShield box is a separate Ethernet outlet that lets users plug in devices that can't work with the IP cloaked.

If you're among the ordinary Americans with a high-speed Internet connection that is always on, chances are excellent that plugging this beautifully simple hardware firewall into your computer will deliver peace of mind, solid security and a far more pleasant Internet experience.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company