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Wednesday, October 19, 2005 3:51 PM PT Posted by Erik Larkin
All Your Files, All the Time
Avvenu just showed us their free remote file access and sharing service, and I have to say I was impressed. By installing a small application on any given computer, you can then access any file on that computer from any other computer, cell phone, PDA, etc., as long as that device has a web browser. And you can upload files, too - without having to configure anything, really.We previewed the service back in February, when the company had been planning a $5/month fee. The service is now free, and the company says they will make money by co-branding with other companies and charging for upcoming premium services.
Avvenu is focusing on pictures, and there are some useful photo features like automatic resizing and file type conversion to display pictures appropriately when viewed on a cell phone as opposed to a desktop computer, for instance. But the real power, I think, lies in having access to all the other stuff. I was previewing the service for a few weeks before Avvenu's presentation, and I've loved being able to take some neat little application I found while researching at work (really, it's my job)and drop it on my desktop on my home computer.
You can also share files with friends by telling Avvenu to send an email to specified email addresses with a link to a particular file or folder (and only that file or folder). The share can be for a limited time, like one day or one month, and there are no file size or bandwith limitations.
The major difference between Avvenu and other services like Streamload or Xdrive is that the files are shared or accessed straight from your computer. So you don't have to upload them ahead of time. But anyone who downloads shared files is using your home Internet connection, which can slow things down if you happen to be on the computer at the time.
One gotcha: if you decide to try Avvenu, be very careful about keeping your username and password safe. If anyone gets your login, they have full access to every file on whichever computers you install on. Also, you have to leave your computer on and connected to the 'net.
To keep you from having to open ports on your firewall and jump through other hoops that people usually don't know about or don't want to mess with, the company does all the transfers through their servers. But they say they don't store any file listings or any other data, and just act as a blind conduit for the encrypted data from point to point.
So what do you think? Is pulling straight from your computer enough to set Avvenu apart from the pack of other sharing services, or does opening up your home computer give you the willies? Tell us here:
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As long as my computer is running and connected to the internet, I can access files remotely through their servers...
As a computer security type, I've got several questions:
- How are they getting through firewalls?
- Is their app making connections out to their servers?
- is the encrypted traffic authenticating to their servers?
- If so, how are the keys changed in the event of compromise?
- Can I turn on and off the application on my computers or do I have to remove it to stop it?
- If their servers are hacked, how are they going to protect my computer?
Too many important questions unanswered.
Too much trust in their software.
I ain't doing it.
JGT
The Avvenu service is designed to meet the needs of consumers and mobile professionals to easily manage remote PC access and sharing without the need for IT assistance. Security is a core feature of the Avvenu service.
A secure SSL tunnel is maintained between the PC and Avvenu's servers using Verisign certificates. Requests from the server are only made through this secure tunnel which blocks malicious attacks from the Internet. The servers also protect the user's credentials to thwart the possibility of hackers stealing information that would allow access to a user's PC.
Finally, all requests and data transfers between the Avvenu servers and the user's web browser are done using SSL to protect both the content and the user's authentication information from being captured on the Internet.
Tom Green, Avvenu
tgreen(at)avvenu.com
Is Avvenu HIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act) compliant?
The HIPAA Regulations & Standards are for medical reference only. So it has no effect either way on software.
Sounds great and I plan to give it a try. I'll only use it on one of my non-critical PCs, though. Maybe after the security is proven 100% safe I'd put it on other machines.
I'm trying to work with AVvenu, but I can't: I have W2000 server on my PC and I get the message "I can found the entry point of the procedure GetProcessImageFileNameA in the dynamix library link PSAPI.DLL"
Avvenu only works on windows XP. For a cross platform solution you could give http://mydisk.co.uk a try.
Re: post by Diana on 6/5/06
The HIPAA standards might be relevant if a doctor is wanting to access his/her office from home to review electronic records, or from one office to another for the same reason. HIPAA requires that a "security plan" be written by the entity responsible for protecting the privacy of medical records. That security plan usually includes what measures are taken with "business partners" that are not responsible in their usual core business activities for maintaining the security of health-care information. I am guessing that some documentation might be required by the doctor (SAK in the post on 5/31) to obtain from you that such security measures are in place ... maybe even the fact that no information sent via your services is kept by your company in any way, and the encryption that you use is sufficent.
Glen