GlassWire review: Free network security tool - partainovertutremew

At a Glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

• Attractively informative
• Very fast
• Free (in its current form)

Cons

• Uses a lot of remembering
• Still in beta

Our Verdict

This very attractive utility does a great job of monitoring your meshing bodily function, and its inbuilt firewall lets you instantly block anything suspicious.

Who is your computer talking to? Your web browser isn't the only application that's sending information online. Your word processor might be phoning home; a data file undelete utility might be lecture its overprotect ship, and even Windows' own services Crataegus oxycantha surprise you. These are not necessarily nefarious actions, but they're worth knowing around. GlassWire is a free and beautiful utility that lays all of this air.

GlassWire makes network dealings diverting to watch.

One of the to the highest degree important things about GlassWire is that it's beautiful. This isn't a venial detail: For many a users, network security is equal parts daunting and tedious. Having a tool that's just amusing to pop ingenuous and watch throughout your day makes a big difference. The graph scrolls in very-time, and there's a whizz slipper across the penetrate of the windowpane letting you run down longer periods of clip at a glance.

What made that traffic spike?

When you see traffic suddenly spiking, you can well drill in and discover exactly which application(s) connected your data processor caused that spike, and which Internet hosts they were communicating with. The chart also makes it easy to tell apart outbound traffic (uploads, shown in yellow) and inbound traffic (downloads, shown in pink).

You can zoom kayoed, and filter past app.

To get over a bigger sense of what your network traffic looks alike, you can zoom the chart out to register three hours, 24 hours, or an entire week's deserving of network activity. There's no lag when you do this: All filtering operations are instant.

The graph then lets you filter activity prohibited by application. For instance, what does Rdio's network traffic look same? How much data does it download over a mean solar day of hearing, and does it consumption the network constantly or shortly spurts? GlassWire makes this some easy and amusing to determine.

Side by side, you can filter out meshing activity by protocol. This can reveal approximately surprising info in itself. For illustration, I use a webmail client: I don't have a traditional email client much as Outlook, so I did not expect to see any SMTP body process on my estimator. GlassWire reminded me one of my applications does send data to the Cyberspace complete SMTP—and it's non an email client.

See an app you don't deficiency communicating? Just barricade it.

Because it gives you so much a wealth of information, information technology only makes sensation for GlassWire to also let you do something with your new knowledge. That's where the built-in firewall comes in. The Firewall tab lets you review the list of all apps communication, to each one with its personal miniature dealings chart. It also lists which network hosts to each one app communicated with—and a single click will muzzle that app for good. If you already use a firewall you're happy with, you can disable GlassWire's built-in firewall from this equal tab without having to dig through and through a Settings dialog.

The Usage tab gives you a broad overview complete how much bandwidth your computer uses.

A job chart is handy for tracking traffic over meter; only for cumulative total, something equal a PIE chart full treatmen better. That's what you'll find on the Usage tab: A simple and endearing spirit at your traffic totals for the day, workweek, OR month. This tab uses the same zoom slider as the Graph tablet, making information technology possible to piece your own custom durations and whizz along in along traffic spikes to witness how much data was exhausted, and by which apps.

If you practice a metered link, if your ISP claims you haven't been reasonably exploitation your so-called "unlimited plan," the Exercis check offers invaluable totals.

The Alerts tab shows what's been going on spell you were away.

Finally, there's all the traffic that's going on when you're non even using the electronic computer. After altogether, your apps don't need you to be there to communicate. Some English hawthorn even patiently bide their clock, ready for the keyboard and mouse to become idle for some time, before they get going speaking to their control servers operating room meshwork peers.

Like everything else GlassWire monitors, this is not necessarily nefarious: Maybe your online backup app just doesn't want to slow down your connection when you need it. Silent, keeping tabs on these things is healthy, and that's what Alerts are for. When you unlock your workstation, GlassWire also pops up unobtrusive messages next to the system tray to let you eff if anything important happened.

GlassWire's doesn't just make it easy to learn near your web activity: It actually makes it fun. That is its biggest exuberate, accomplished through with beautiful conception and a zippy, responsive interface. Unlike many else security apps, there's nothing alarmist around it, and it doesn't attack to upsell you on anything.

The app is all free, although a statement on the developer's web site says it intends to "add new features in the future for paying supporters."

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/435371/glasswire-review-this-free-network-security-tool-tells-all-about-your-network-traffic.html

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