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Amid data leaks from large online campaigns, The Verge studied the product of a company that offers users to keep data under their control.
It means that no matter what anyone said about Hillary Clinton's mail server, she was not hacked. “Write it down,” says Giri Srinivas, founder of Helm. "But [Campaign Manager Hillary Clinton John] Podesta used Gmail and fell victim to phishing."
The topic of email privacy and security is more relevant than ever. After Russian hackers opened the mail of the Clinton and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) campaign leader, and in light of everything we've learned in recent months, it's clear how easy it is for web giants like Facebook and Google to accidentally hand over massive amounts of personal information. about Us.
We would prefer to know for sure that our information will remain private. That is why Srinivas creates Helm: a personal server that manages your mail, calendar and contacts and does not give this information to anyone. The data is yours, protected by Helm, and stored right at your home.
I suspect that many of those who are now worried about their privacy will like this idea. But privacy is not everything. Whether Helm can compete with the security of Gmail and other popular email services is a critical question that will determine whether they can replace the service you already use with something more personal but more complex and expensive.
Here's how it works: Helm sells you a device, a Helm Server, for $ 499. One year subscription is included in the price; each next year costs another $ 99. The device looks like a funny router; when you connect it, you will need to launch the application and go through a short setup process: you will quickly configure the server to work with the domain name of your choice. Then all that remains is to configure the way to access your new accounts.
Unfortunately, Helm does not have any web interface, so you cannot check mail and calendar from the browser, as with Gmail and Google Calendar. Helm does not have its own applications either. Instead, standard protocols are used, so you can use your accounts from any mail or calendar application - just select those that work locally so that the data does not sync with the cloud of any company. On iPhone, Helm automatically connects Apple Mail after installation.
These issues can be circumvented, but they are inconvenient: if you want to use Helm, you will probably have to change applications and get used to checking mail and calendar in a new way on all your devices.
Helm protects these accounts in several different ways. Your admin account that manages the server is protected by a password and a six-digit two-factor authentication code generated by the local application. Email accounts do not require two-factor authentication; they need one-time passwords, which are different for each application. In theory, this would prevent attackers from logging into any device without a new password. This also means that if your password is leaked due to poor security in some application, or if you, like Podesta, fall victim to phishing, your account will still be safe.
But password protection is only part of the battle. Any device can be hacked, and the protection of the servers rests with Helm. With an annual fee, the company will be able to add new features (a password manager and file vault is on the way) and upgrade its servers, but they don't have the resources of competitors like Google that can throw huge teams to protect their data. There are only 12 people in the entire Helm team.
“Google has a great security team,” says Srinivas. "They are also a very big target." He believes that since Helm users are isolated on different servers in different places, they will not be so interesting to hackers, because they often try to get a lot of data at once. “Big goals, high concentration - that's what burglars want,” he says. "We are confident that we can make the Internet safer by decentralizing these services."
This, of course, does not mean that the server is completely reliable. If someone wants you, the only thing that matters is whether they can find a hole in the Helm software. According to Srinivas, a lot of people regularly scan the web for servers, so your Helm server won't be hidden from the world just because it is in your home. Helm itself also stores some data: it helps direct traffic to and from servers, and it also stores an encrypted copy of your emails in case your storage crashes.
So, despite the obvious advantage of privacy, you have to ask yourself: are you confident that Helm will securely store your data. We've always thought that Google, Microsoft, Apple and others are doing pretty well with this.
The idea of a personal server is not new in itself. Large organizations often choose to host services in order to better control their network. This is also available to individuals - it's just difficult; not easy enough for anyone to customize, anyway.
The success of Helm is that they made it very easy. Plus, the product launches at a good time - just weeks after a major Google+ bug was discovered and a Facebook hack revealed just how vulnerable these companies can be.
However, as with all these services, the question of trust remains decisive. Helm has the advantage that the service they sell doesn't need your data. If they can convince people that the server is safe and reliable, then perhaps it will become the private solution that many have been waiting for.
It means that no matter what anyone said about Hillary Clinton's mail server, she was not hacked. “Write it down,” says Giri Srinivas, founder of Helm. "But [Campaign Manager Hillary Clinton John] Podesta used Gmail and fell victim to phishing."
The topic of email privacy and security is more relevant than ever. After Russian hackers opened the mail of the Clinton and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) campaign leader, and in light of everything we've learned in recent months, it's clear how easy it is for web giants like Facebook and Google to accidentally hand over massive amounts of personal information. about Us.
We would prefer to know for sure that our information will remain private. That is why Srinivas creates Helm: a personal server that manages your mail, calendar and contacts and does not give this information to anyone. The data is yours, protected by Helm, and stored right at your home.
I suspect that many of those who are now worried about their privacy will like this idea. But privacy is not everything. Whether Helm can compete with the security of Gmail and other popular email services is a critical question that will determine whether they can replace the service you already use with something more personal but more complex and expensive.
Here's how it works: Helm sells you a device, a Helm Server, for $ 499. One year subscription is included in the price; each next year costs another $ 99. The device looks like a funny router; when you connect it, you will need to launch the application and go through a short setup process: you will quickly configure the server to work with the domain name of your choice. Then all that remains is to configure the way to access your new accounts.
Unfortunately, Helm does not have any web interface, so you cannot check mail and calendar from the browser, as with Gmail and Google Calendar. Helm does not have its own applications either. Instead, standard protocols are used, so you can use your accounts from any mail or calendar application - just select those that work locally so that the data does not sync with the cloud of any company. On iPhone, Helm automatically connects Apple Mail after installation.
These issues can be circumvented, but they are inconvenient: if you want to use Helm, you will probably have to change applications and get used to checking mail and calendar in a new way on all your devices.
Helm protects these accounts in several different ways. Your admin account that manages the server is protected by a password and a six-digit two-factor authentication code generated by the local application. Email accounts do not require two-factor authentication; they need one-time passwords, which are different for each application. In theory, this would prevent attackers from logging into any device without a new password. This also means that if your password is leaked due to poor security in some application, or if you, like Podesta, fall victim to phishing, your account will still be safe.
But password protection is only part of the battle. Any device can be hacked, and the protection of the servers rests with Helm. With an annual fee, the company will be able to add new features (a password manager and file vault is on the way) and upgrade its servers, but they don't have the resources of competitors like Google that can throw huge teams to protect their data. There are only 12 people in the entire Helm team.
“Google has a great security team,” says Srinivas. "They are also a very big target." He believes that since Helm users are isolated on different servers in different places, they will not be so interesting to hackers, because they often try to get a lot of data at once. “Big goals, high concentration - that's what burglars want,” he says. "We are confident that we can make the Internet safer by decentralizing these services."
This, of course, does not mean that the server is completely reliable. If someone wants you, the only thing that matters is whether they can find a hole in the Helm software. According to Srinivas, a lot of people regularly scan the web for servers, so your Helm server won't be hidden from the world just because it is in your home. Helm itself also stores some data: it helps direct traffic to and from servers, and it also stores an encrypted copy of your emails in case your storage crashes.
So, despite the obvious advantage of privacy, you have to ask yourself: are you confident that Helm will securely store your data. We've always thought that Google, Microsoft, Apple and others are doing pretty well with this.
The idea of a personal server is not new in itself. Large organizations often choose to host services in order to better control their network. This is also available to individuals - it's just difficult; not easy enough for anyone to customize, anyway.
The success of Helm is that they made it very easy. Plus, the product launches at a good time - just weeks after a major Google+ bug was discovered and a Facebook hack revealed just how vulnerable these companies can be.
However, as with all these services, the question of trust remains decisive. Helm has the advantage that the service they sell doesn't need your data. If they can convince people that the server is safe and reliable, then perhaps it will become the private solution that many have been waiting for.
