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| '''Phoenix Labs''' (formerly '''Methlabs''') is a ] organization founded by ] and ], best known for their ] ] product ]. Other software they produce includes ], and the XS file sharing hub and client. | '''Phoenix Labs''' (formerly '''Methlabs''') is a ] organization founded by ] and ], best known for their ] ] product ]. Other software they produce includes ], and the XS file sharing hub and client. | ||
Revision as of 02:10, 10 January 2006
Phoenix Labs (formerly Methlabs) is a software developing organization founded by Tim Leonard and Ken McKelland, best known for their open-source firewall product PeerGuardian. Other software they produce includes DeepDelete, and the XS file sharing hub and client.
DeepDelete
DeepDelete is going to be going under reconstruction soon. The point of DeepDelete is to erase files so that they may never be recovered. Files that may be recovered after going through DeepDelete will not be reable. Its believed that no file has ever been recovered after being deleted by DeepDelete.
PeerGuardian/PeerGuardian OS X
PeerGuardian is Phoenix Labs’ premier IP blocker for Windows. PeerGuardian integrates support for multiple lists, list editing, automatic updates, and blocking all of IPv4 (TCP, UDP, ICMP, etc), making it the safest and easiest way to protect your privacy on P2P. PeerGuardian is capable of holding many different lists blocking many different things. Such lists include; P2P, Government, Education, Spyware/Adware, and much more.
PeerGuardian is an open source IP filter that is designed to block the IP addresses of certain organizations and corporations that may wish to harm a users privacy while using the Internet and peer-to-peer networks.
PeerGuardian requires no driver installation, yet blocks IP addresses at a far higher speed than was previously available - never above 1% CPU on most test systems. On Windows 2000 and greater PeerGuardian blocks at a kernel level, acting against every protocol used within the windows system. On Windows 98 or Me it blocks TCP only (due to technical reasons, kernel blocking in 98/ME is not feasible) with the same high performance of the Windows 2000 version.
PeerGuardian blocks IP addresses based upon a list of IP addresses collected by many methods. By default, PeerGuardian collects IP addresses from the Blocklist.org website. Blocklist.org is a website designed to allow users to interactively manage and block the IP addresses of certain organisations and companies. Founded in early 2005 by phoenixlabs.org, it is intended to be a platform agnostic database that utilises published open formats. Blocklist.org is still under construction, and more detail about how to use the database to submit new ranges, and report bad ranges will be added to a later version of this manual.
PeerGuardian is now totally automatic. You do not need to install a driver, simply run the program without any visits to the control panel. The new start-up wizard makes things easier than ever.
Also kernel level blocking make the system far more efficient and powerful than any previous version.
PeerGuardian Lite
PeerGuardian Lite is a derivative of PeerGuardian made to consume as little CPU/RAM as possible. It has no UI or options and consists of a single tray icon.
PeerGuardian FAQ
- Q. Does PeerGuardian block all protocols?
-A. On Windows 2000, XP, and 2003, PG2 will block all protocols. On Windows 98 and ME, PG will only block TCP.
- Q. I have allowed connection logging turned on but nothing seems to be showing up. What’s wrong?
-A. PeerGuardian for Windows 9x does not currently support logging/showing of allowed connections.
- Q. I heard PeerGuardian takes up tons of CPU. Is this still true?
-A. No! While 1.x was a big CPU hog, you shouldn’t ever notice 2.x over 1% usage during normal operation.
- Q. Do I need to install any drivers?
-A. Nope. PeerGuardian does this all for you.
- Q. What lists should I use?
-A. The only list you need is P2P. Others may want to block spyware or ads, etc. For blocking ads, it is recommended that you use something more tailored for that like the Firefox plugin Adblock or Proxomitron.
- Q. How safe is PeerGuardian, really?
-A. Well, it is accurate in the sense that it blocks everything on your blocklist. It is impossible to know _all_ the addresses to block so while it will increase your safety to a good extent, it can never be perfect.
- Q. PeerGuardian is blocking my favorite site! How do I unblock it?
-A. Right click in the log and add it to your permanent allow list.
- Q. Is it safe to turn off the “Block HTTP” option?
-A. It is recommended that you add it to your pemanent allow list instead. If Block HTTP is off, it is possible for others to sneak in through port 80 or 443.
- Q. PeerGuardian says “Blocking 0 IPs”. Is it safe?
-A. Due to the interest in PG our server for Blocklist.org went down under a huge load. It is back up, but you will need to upgrade to Beta 2 or greater and delete your .conf file.
- Q. Can PeerGuardian replace my firewall?
-A. No! PeerGuardian has been heavily optimized for what it needs to do and is _not_ a replacement for your firewall.
- Q. The number of IPs blocked in PeerGuardian just dropped! How do I block them again.
A. If the number of IPs dropped, it is for good reason. We are constantly updating and fine-tuning our lists, which includes removing safe IPs.
- Q. Why can’t I run PeerGuardian under my normal user account?
-A. The 2000/XP/2003 version needs to install a driver, something that normal users can’t do. You can set the shortcut to run it as Admin, or use the 98/ME version.
- Q. PeerGuardian isn’t working for me, or is interfering with my firewall. What can I do?
-A. PeerGuardian is known to be incompatible with McAfee and BlackICE firewalls. Outpost is also known to cause a problem if you shut down PG2 while it is running. There is currently no way around this, so we recommend you try switching to another firewall like Sygate. If PeerGuardian still isn’t working, you can try an alpha build to see if it’s been fixed, or report a bug.
- Q. PeerGuardian blocked someone, should I be worried?
-A. Well, it was blocked, so why would you worry? It’s when bad stuff isn’t blocked that you have a problem.
- Q. Many allowed packets are scrolling by my PeerGuardian window, should I be worried?
-A. PeerGuardian shows all allowed connections by default, these are all the things that aren’t in your blocklist. The option can be turned off in settings.
- Q. PeerGuardian blocked someone, with me as the source!
-A. This can happen if you visit a blocked webpage, or if you are using a P2P service such as BitTorrent. It is nothing to worry about.
- Q. I’ve heard rumors that PeerGuardian is unsafe. Are they true?
-A. They are just that: rumors. PeerGuardian is safe. We are even Open Source, so you can go look for yourself (something the people spreading the rumors don’t offer).
Blocklist.org
Blocklist.org is a website designed to allow users to interactively manage and block the IP addresses of certain organisations and companies. Founded in late 2004 by phoenixlabs.org, it is intended to be a platform agnostic database that utilises published open formats.
History
Phoenix Labs was formed after a dispute on September 16, 2005 with William Erwin, a member of the Methlabs team. Erwin was in charge of the finances and domain names for Methlabs locked the rest of the development team out of the their computer servers. However by September 26 all the websites which Methlabs used to operate were placed under the control of Phoenix Labs.
External links
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