Instant LP

Review of TeamViewer (Remote Desktop Management Tool

Very often we reach a point where we need to either help a friend or client fix computer, or share a file, over the internet, or we need help with something on our computer from someone who can not physically come and help us out. I came across TeamViewer last year and have been using it since then. I use it to help my friends, family and some clients when they run into situations where they need help and thanks to the easy interface of TeamViewer, remote help and support is now piece of cake.

TeamViewer is by far the most easiest remote desktop management tool I have ever used. All the client (the person asking for help) needs to do is run this tool, you (the person providing support) do the rest.

TeamViewer is a paid software for businesses, but free for private use. It is also loaded with some amazing features like File Transfer, Full Screen mode, it works behind firewalls, high level of security and the fact that it can be used without installation.

I highly recommend this software. To get your copy visit: www.teamviewer.com

Important Security Update:
I was requested to provide more details about the security risks involved by using Team Viewer as the fact that it can work behind a firewall may allow it to do more, or even worse compromise your security to some extent. When I first tested TeamViewer I was a little concerned about this but then I closely monitored my system logs, Process list to make sure it does not allow other apps to access sensitive information about my computer and I did not find any threat there. But to get a more detailed view on the security of TeamViewer, there is a Security Statement available by TeamViewer which can be viewed on their site.

- Encryption and Authentication Process
Since there is a communication between two computers taking place, it is important to understand how the authentication process works and if the data being transmitted is encrypted or not. So here is how it works:
TeamViewer works with a complete encryption based on RSA public/private key exchange and AES (256 Bit) session encoding. This technology is used in a comparable form for https/SSL and can be considered completely safe by today's standards. As the private key never leaves the client computer, it is ensured by this procedure that interconnected computers - including the TeamViewer routing servers - cannot decipher the data stream.
Each TeamViewer clients has already implemented the public key of the master cluster and can thus encrypt messages for the master server and check the signature of the master, respectively. The PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) effectively prevents "Man-in-the-middle-attacks". Despite the encryption the password is never sent directly but only through a challenge-response procedure and is only saved on the local computer.

- Validation of TeamViewer IDs
The TeamViewer IDs are automatically generated by TeamViewer itself based on hardware characteristics. The TeamViewer servers check the validity of the ID before every connection so that is not possible to generate and use fake IDs.

- Brute Force Attacks
If prospective customers inquire about the security of TeamViewer, they regularly ask about encryption. Understandably the risk that a third party could gain insight into the connection or that the TeamViewer access data is being tapped is feared the most. In reality it is very often very primitive attacks that are the most dangerous ones.
In the context of computer security brute force attacks are often attempts to guess a password which is protecting a protected resource by trial and error. With the growing computing power of standard computers the time needed for guessing even longer password has been increasingly reduced.
As a defence against brute force attacks, TeamViewer exponentially increases the latency between the connection attempts. For 24 attempts it already takes 17 hours. The latency is only reset after successfully entering the correct password.

An Updated Copy of Team Viewer Security Statement can be obtained from: http://www.teamviewer.com/products/TeamViewer_SecurityStatement.pdf
To get your copy visit: www.teamviewer.com