The free version regularly scans your device for remote connection tools such as TeamViewer which are commonly used by scammers to get on your computer and steal your personal information. It also blocks all of these websites. This version is why I’m posting because I want people to be protected from scams that my own family have been victims of.
The premium version is only 2 dollars a month and has other features such as blocking thousands of scam websites and notifying select family members if your loved on tries to install one of these connection tools.
If you have elderly or vulnerable family members, consider installing the free version! It’s so quick and could protect everything they have someday.
(Crossposted to other tech communities and Reddit, trying to get the word out!)
Why should I get another damn subscription? Why not just block teamviewer.com on the router?
Although I agree with you on subscriptions in general, it is not quite as easy as blocking just one site. There are more popular remote desktop software than a regular person could list easily.
But maybe the good news is, that if blocking is enough for you, that’s in the free version, right?
Ok, gramps. I blocked TeamViewer on the router to stop scammers.
Two months later, gramps has a small problem with the internet connection. The first thing the helpdesk tells him to do is factory reset the router.
Gramps gets scammed through TeamViewer.
Someone needs to curate and maintain the blocklist. Paying for software once is a surefire way to have it stop blocking anything a few years down the line because the company stopped updating their lists when the sales ran out.
If you pay a set fee for something that requires continuous maintainance you’re either overpaying enough to compensate for cash flow interruptions or you’re at risk of the software being discontinued. The latter is especially true if you’re getting stuff for free, but in that case you’re also not entitled to any service.
As for “why not block teamviewer at the router”: because then anydesk will still work. And if you block anydesk, Microsoft Remote Support will work. And if you block Microsoft Remote Support, RustDesk will work. And if you try to block every single RustDesk server, grandpa’s internet probably no longer works anymore, because you’ve just blocked off every data center in the world.
I hear you, monthly subscriptions can be a killer financially. The team that made this knew that releasing the free version might hurt their finances in the long run but they genuinely want to help protect people from being scammed.
I will say the paid version is as cheap as they could possibly make it, they may have to up the price in the future to keep paying staff but I appreciate how much they’re trying to make it accessible.
If I was in a position to I’d pay for the subs for my parents and grandparents (maybe in the future), but at least I was able to get them the free version for now!
Pihole is my goto add tailscale for family
Pihole runs on a 10-15 dollar computer (raspberry pi) and blocks anything you want, and is free as in freedom software. It is also zero cost.
I’ve never heard of this, I’m gonna look it up and learn more!
Not FOSS as far as I can tell. Maybe it’s no concern to folks running MS stuff already, but IMO closed-source is a red flag for trustworthiness.
Thanks for pointing that out, I hadn’t thought of whether or why it was closed source! I’ve seen nothing but good intentions from Kitboga and his team, but I can’t know everything obviously so I’m glad you’re pointing that out!
Can certain remote connections be whitelisted?
I have a number of non-tech family members that I remote assist and remote administer. Clearly, I need to be able to log in remotely via RustDesk whenever needed, and since RustDesk has no auto-updater, I would need to whitelist the website (and their GitHub page) as well.
Yeah!! Kitboga actually answered this question on a recent stream, I know for sure the premium version you can whitelist any site. Not sure about the free version! Kitboga said it’s the most common question he gets 😂
Praise Kitboga!
100% of the time when I’m working at home, More Kitboga is playing on my other screen. I’m so happy there’s more Crowpro now!
Aaaahhhh same!!! His face is in all my screenshots because I always have his videos on in the background 😆
Assign a guardian and get notified in real time with an email and text message when a loved one is at risk.
That actually sounds useful… the associated image kinda made me giggle at how fake it looks but the idea is really good.
