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Re-authentication after inactivity

by Chris Taylor

About Chris Taylor:  Chris is on the Community Review Board for SANS’s OUCH! (the security awareness newsletter designed for everyone), has given over 470 computer-related presentations at the Ottawa Public Library, and is President of the Ottawa PC Users’ Group.

In September (https://www.glasswire.com/blog/2022/09/16/how-to-disable-automatic-sign-in-to-windows) I showed how to disable automatic sign-in to Windows and make sure all user accounts have a password. In October (https://www.glasswire.com/blog/2022/10/17/re-authentication-when-resumingby-chris-taylor/) I showed how to ensure re-authentication is required after waking from sleep mode or after a screen saver is dismissed.

Choosing what should blank the screen

One drawback to using a screensaver is that it doesn’t cut the video signal (even if the screensaver is set to Blank) and this prevents the monitor from going into a low-power state.

On the other hand, power settings in Windows provide the capability of turning off the monitor after a period of inactivity and this feature does cut the signal to the monitor. A modern monitor can then go into a low-power mode.

Go to Settings | System | Power & sleep and select a time for Screen – turn off after.

You can also set the time for individual power plans. Click the Additional power settings link and then Change plan settings.

Unfortunately, the Windows setting to turn off your monitor doesn’t have an option to require re-authentication when the monitor turns back on after you start using the computer again. However, you can combine the two options to get the best of both worlds.

Set your screen saver to On resume, display log-on screen and choose the Wait period you want. Then, in Power & sleep in Settings set the Screen – turn off after to the same time period. The screen saver will ensure re-authentication is required when you resume and the Power & sleep option allows your monitor to go into low-power mode.

While it is possible to use only power options to have Windows prompt for re-authentication when you resume using your computer, it requires modifications to the registry. While not particularly difficult, I don’t think there is a major downside to use the combination of power settings and screensaver as detailed above.

Dynamic lock

You can configure windows to lock your computer if the Bluetooth signal for a paired phone falls below a certain threshold. In Settings| Accounts | Sign-in options under Dynamic lock select Allow Windows to automatically lock your device when you’re away.

Microsoft says Dynamic lock works with “devices that are paired with your PC” but a phone is the “only currently supported configuration”.

I don’t view Dynamic lock as a main means of protection. It only locks your computer after the Bluetooth signal strength drops below a certain level for 30 seconds and it is interrupted by any keyboard or mouse activity. While it might help you if you accidentally walk away from your computer without locking it, a quick-thinking attacker watching you walk out of the room can easily defeat Dynamic lock simply by moving the mouse or pressing a key.

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GlassWire Roadmap 2023

We recently launched GlassWire 3.0 which came with a number of new features: GlassWire Score, Anomaly Detection and the Management Console… but there is a lot more to come!
We would like to share with you some of the features we are working on:

GLASSWIRE V3 Windows (APP)

New and Simplified Network Traffic Tab
Based on feedback received from our users, we are merging the “Graph” and “Usage” Tab into a new simpler Network Traffic Tab. Stay tuned!

New Tab: Hardware Resources
Ever wished your Windows Task Manager gave you a comprehensive history of your PC’s resource utilization metrics? You will soon be able to have one with Glasswire! Next to the Network Traffic Tab, you will soon see a new Hardware Resources tab with a simple to use interface to view historical resource consumption (CPU, Memory, Disk) of all past and present processes and applications running locally on your PC.

New View in Network Traffic tab: Geo Map
We are introducing a new view in Network Traffic which will visually and more intuitively show you on a world map where your traffic is going/coming from.

Goodbye Things, welcome Network Scanner
The current Things tab is having a makeover. We are renaming it Network Scanner and significantly improving device recognition with the addition of device type, brand and model, so you can better understand what actually is on your network! And by the way, we will soon be moving Network Scanner under the free plan (it’s currently available only to paying subscribers).

GLASSWIRE V3 Management Dashboard (WEB)

Improved endpoint management.
We will be enriching the data which is available on the management console (location, username, Organization) in order to allow our heavy-duty users to manage hundreds or thousands of endpoints.

Consolidated reporting across your endpoints.
You will soon be able to aggregate historical data traffic reporting (and eventually hardware resource utilization) across your endpoint, seeing totals for your organization (or home) and/or outliers amongst your user base.

New alerts management to allow you to configure email alerting if any anomaly is detected in any of your endpoints.

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GlassWire partners with Domotz

Austin, November 17, 2022
Securemix LLC. and Domotz Inc. announced today that the companies have entered into a strategic partnership that will enhance the commercial capabilities of GlassWire. 

The commercial distribution agreement will allow Domotz to resell the GlassWire software providing even greater strength to GlassWire’s growth efforts. 

The partnership brings together the expertise of two players active in the network monitoring space. 

GlassWire is an application that provides complete visibility and control over digital traffic generated or received by an end-user endpoint on a computer network. With over 30 million downloads since inception and hundreds of thousands of daily users, the software is currently one of the most popular and well-recognized traffic monitoring solutions for windows PC and android. The company is expanding its offering from the Prosumer market to the IT professional and Enterprise space. 

Domotz, established in 2015, is a fast-growing US-based company that operates in the IT Asset Management, Network Visibility, and Telemetry space, helping thousands of IT Professionals, System Admins, and MSPs manage their network infrastructure in over 110 countries worldwide.

In the future, the two companies plan to exploit more partnership opportunities.

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GlassWire 3.0 is finally live

We have launched a new version of Glasswire and are excited to share many new features with you!

Gain even more visibility into your network traffic with our latest features! 

We have been working hard over the past months to improve our software and we are proud to announce the introduction of some new and exciting features. We believe they will radically improve your understanding of all the network traffic generated from your PCs.

  • GW Score – To further enhance GlassWire as an endpoint security solution, we have introduced the GW Score, which will allow you to gain better insights into the safety of the applications running on your PC. Thanks to the GW Score, based on an algorithm that analyzes the applications’ popularity, you will understand if any applications running on your machine are “one of a kind” and therefore potentially dangerous. If you do use customized software, you can mark it as “safe”.

    The GW Score ranges from 0 to 100%. If an application looks suspicious (typically runs on less than 1% of users’ machines), you can immediately block it, thanks to GlassWire’s firewall.
  • Anomaly Detection – Did you ever wonder if the amount of traffic generated by your computer can be considered normal? To help you understand it, we have developed a new feature called “Traffic Anomaly Detection”. By analyzing the volume and frequency of your data streams, GlassWire can identify anomalies in your network traffic and suspicious applications.

You will find these new features on the Security Tab of your GlassWire App.

Create your GlassWire account

By creating an account you will gain access to your personal GlassWire Management Console.
The Management Console is a dashboard that you can access from anywhere, allowing you to view and manage all endpoints associated with your account. Within the Management console you can access and make changes to your account information, manage billing details, upgrade your plan and add all the endpoints you need!

Click on the button below to download the new GlassWire.