Dome9 (the nanny) is the provider of firewall hosting services meant for protecting cloud servers, and it just created a very useful iPhone Security App that you may want to check out.

What is Dome9 and what does it offer?

Dome9 is an Israeli security company that enables the users to lockdown SSH access or admin panels unless the users particularly open them using the company’s web console. Additionally, the company released an iPhone application recently that provides a far easier access to this console. Normally, users leave their means of remote administration of a server most of the time or else they won’t be able to access it when they need to do so. The conundrum that administrators land into because of this is that it leaves the users’ servers open to hacking attacks of mere password guessing of hit and trial while other vulnerabilities in control panels or access protocols can also be taken advantage of. Admins have taken various measures in order to overcome this problem but Dome9 offers a different approach altogether.

How does it protect?

It installs a client on the admins’ server that manages the opening of ports in terms of which ones and for how much time do they remain as such. If the users, whether public or private, install it on their servers they can log into Dome9 online using the web console or iPhone client to turn on a control panel or SSH as per their needs. The users can also set session expiry timings in case they want to avoid the hassle of remembering to close the port after usage.

How to prevent attacks?

In lieu of routing all the traffic through the company’s servers, Dome9’s service is reminiscent of Cloudfare’s similar service while the only point of divergence is that Cloudfare is designed particularly for public web servers but Dome9 can be used practically for all server types and allows for better controls. Additionally it can also be used simultaneously with Cloudfare like attackers can be prevented from routing around Cloudfare by preventing your server from giving access to any party outside of Cloudfare’s proxy server.

However, the security risk involved is that if someone gains access to a user’s Dome9 account they can mess around with any port and in any way they wish to. Still, there are numerous security options available to users ranging from administrators to average private users but no matter how high you raise your walls, there will be those finding ways to climb them up, so watch your back as with all the computer monitoring software, cell phone spy apps and all other malware lurking around the web, you can never be too sure.

James Clark has been in the business of providing quality information on spy software for iPhones for a while now. He’s an expert at all things spyware, but his main forte is iPhone spyware which has captured the interest of many.