Security via DESKTOP app: Is it also HTTPS?: Pogoplugged

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August 22, 2010 7:19 AM

craig42a said: I am aware you can have a HTTPS connection through the browser, but when you use the desktop app (which I find better and more convenient than the browser) how are you connecting? Is this also a secure (i.e. HTTPS) connection? Let me also state this is not local use LAN use. I am working with someone offsite in another state and we are sharing files. So is it secure for him to use the Desktop app or should he use the browser with HTTPS? We are both Mac users, BTW.

I understand that pogoplug detects whether your device (pc etc) is on the same local LAN as the pogoplug. If so, it routes data directly between devices using the local LAN using up to Gigabit speed, hence this is faster.

If your PC and pogoplug are remote from each other, as you state, then they communicate via pogoplug servers and the speed is governed my the speed of your internet connection. Which is much slower for most users! The upload speed for most ISP's is also much slower than the download speed. The web browser is used for these actions and can have either a http or https connection depending on the URL you use. HTTPS is slower due to the need to encrypt the data stream. Unless the data is especially sensitive http is recommended.

Hopefully I've got this correct!

Willieboy

Remember, its not what life does to you, but what you do with what life does to you, that matters.

craig42a

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August 22, 2010 7:53 AM

I guess my main question is that if someone else (offsite) is using the desktop app instead of the browser to connect, are they getting a secure connection through the desktop app, like they are with the browser with HTTPS turned on.

Good point about the download and upload speeds. A friend pointed this out to me as well. It may be easy for me to upload a 50 MB image on my LAN, but for someone to download it offsite means it will have to pass through my upload-to-ISP speed. Currently I have Comcast which has higher upload speeds than DSL (e,g, AT; Earthlink), and you can pay a bit more per month and get even higher upload speeds comparable to download.

Because security is an issue and because of the potential bottlenecks caused by large files I may stick with "basecamp" for now and scrub pogoplug as a potential replacement. Most of my files for my current publishing project are Word files which are okay either upload or download. That's fine with my editor. But if I work with an offsite designer than the image files and upload speeds may become a problem.

Yesterday, just about when I was going to assign access priv. to several friends to test the throughput and feel it out on their end, the folders on my drive disappearred completely. Unmounting and remounting didn't work. Nothing worked to see them again, and this was on my LAN. I had to turn off the drive and turn it back on again, then remount it, to see them again. This is admin glitch I don't need, esp. for my current project. Imagine if I wasn't home to reboot, and this is a good reason why basecamp is better. Pogoplug may not be perfect and still need some work on the hw and sw end, but they have a great idea and a great product. I think the extra perks they have built into their forthcoming business edition of the Pogoplug are fantastic. I wish I felt more comfortable with pogoplug to use it at this point, but I don't.

If anything, at least for now, it's a good replacement for a NAS. I hooked up an external drive in a 5.25 case for now, but it is constantly running. It has a fan too. A bit noisy, though in another room, and the drive will have a shorter life too. Don't know how it would work with a "green" drive like a WD My Book where the drive spins down when not in use. Will it wake back up okay if I prompt it from my Desktop using the browser or the pogoplug desktop app? Like I said earlier, I had all my folders on my current external volume disappear from view for no reason, so I'm feeling like there are still some kinks to be worked out.

Thanks for your reply and input.

willieboy

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August 22, 2010 8:27 AM

According to this FAQ the desktop app works from inside or outside your home or office. But no info on whether it's https. Get someone to try using the desktop app remotely to see what happens. Others more experts here will be able to advise.

http://www.pogoplugged.com/page/faq#10

If security is an issue you could encrypt the documents in that folder!

I'm just getting aquainted with my pogoplug and have had a few problems which I now realise were of my own making! Things seem to have settled down now ...

I have a Netgear Readynas duo and use the remote access app when away from home
http://www.netgear.co.uk/readynasduo.php

Here is a demo of the remote access. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEBqP-m2404

Good luck!

Remember, its not what life does to you, but what you do with what life does to you, that matters.

willieboy

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August 22, 2010 8:57 AM updated: August 22, 2010 9:01 AM

Or you might also be interested in the new pogodrive for business! This looks very cool. http://www.pogoplugged.com/blog/entry/14253/Pogoplug-Launches-Business-Versio...

Special promotional price reduction!! http://www.pogoplugged.com/blog/entry/14266/Special-Promotional-Price-on-Pogo...

Remember, its not what life does to you, but what you do with what life does to you, that matters.

craig42a

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August 22, 2010 10:35 AM

willieboy said: According to this FAQ the desktop app works from inside or outside your home or office. But no info on whether it's https. Get someone to try using the desktop app remotely to see what happens.

Thanks for the two messages. The above is an idea, but not feasible since you're in app you can't see if it is secure or not like you can with a browser (http vs. https).

Probably need to make this a direct tech support question to get an answer. Not getting any answers from them here as of yet. (But it is the weekend too).

Thanks.

TheMuuj

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August 23, 2010 1:14 PM

I get the feeling that it is not using HTTPS.

I was unable to log into the pogoplug website at work. Every time I logged in it dumped me right back out. I assume it has to do with the gateway here causing a problem. I changed the setting on the website to force HTTPS and now I have no trouble logging in. Since proxies can't really do any caching of HTTPS traffic, I think it fixed the problem. Plus, I'd rather that nobody be able to snoop on my traffic at work.

But I simply cannot get the Pogoplug Drive to connect at work, no matter what I do, so I assume it's not using HTTPS. I've been trying to figure out if there is a command line switch to force this, but I've had no luck so far.

SWK

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December 24, 2011 4:31 PM

I am sure that it is not using https, as I can capture the traffic and see the list of files on my pogoplug. This is not secure! At least there should be an option for turning on https.

pJim

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March 31, 2012 11:34 PM updated: March 31, 2012 11:39 PM

I think the Backup (5.0.0) is based on the old ActiveCopy where there was a checkBox, at one time, that gave the administrator/owner the option of restricting ActiveCopy/Backup only when connected while on the LAN.

This would sorta make the movement of files "sorta" secure.

Then one day the checkBox disappeared as did ActiveCopy. It became Backup and it would function on both the LAN and over the internet with no restrictions. As far as I can tell, there is no security in place when using Pogoplug's Backup software.

The same goes for a session using my.pogoplug.com. Some time back, all user sessions were HTTPS. Then one day, they were just HTTP by default. At that point in time, the administrator/owner had no control over a user session.

The key point here is each user (eMail address) MUST specificially check the box under Settings->Security in front of the sentence, "Use full security sessions" to have HTTPS after login on my.pogoplug.com. The Pogoplug device administrator/owner is unable to do this.

And, I might ask, "What user is going to go to all the trouble of checking the box just to secure their session?"

So, for the most part, I believe that the majority of the sessions and file transfers are unsecure when using the Pogoplug!

Pogoplug Farming(tm) is Fun!

Pogoplugged

Security via DESKTOP app: Is it also HTTPS?

craig42a

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