A new remote access player

Wherever you are your data tends to be somewhere else, hence the wide range of options for carrying data with you, storing it online or accessing it remotely. SecureIDA, a new service from WorldExtend, offers a twist on remote-desktop access by also making remote file access simple through an easy to configure VPN. You get many services for free, and even more for a few bucks.

“Remote desktop” suggests people controlling their office computer from home, and that happens. More often, however, people need a file from home when at the office, or vice versa. That’s why all the remote desktop control programs include file transfer.

SecureIDA goes one step better; you can define a remote connection to your computer, but just to a single directory on your disk drive if you want. That means you can give access to your files, or at least a subset of your files, to others without fear they’ll start searching around your computer while in the driver’s seat. Curious coworkers often like to look for certain, um, pictures for future blackmail. When they don’t find any, they can put them on your computer because they’re in control. This pushes the “share the computer access with your coworkers” plan into a slimy pit, especially when you have slimy coworkers. SecureIDA cleans up that potential mess.

I met the SecureIDA people in Philadelphia last year at the ITEC conference before they even had a product available. Actually, they had so many features inside their remote access framework they had trouble explaining to people what they did.

Remote control desktop products are easy to define: you control the desktop remotely. VPNs link two offices, or one remote client to an office network. Remote application execution came from Citrix and a few other vendors. SecureIDA offers all these as well as a remote file server option using Windows networking, and had trouble comparing itself to such different competitors.

Now that the company has sharpened its focus, people may be better able to understand its services of VPN, Application Publishing, and Remote Desktop. The company decided to hide its excellent file access services under the Remote Desktop banner, which is understandable for clarity but a shame because it offers more remote file access control than other options.

Everyone wants one-click, maybe two-click, setup for remote control applications, but the need for security makes that impossible. The early Internet let anyone go and connect pretty much anywhere, which was lovely until hackers and spyware writers and spammers took a baseball bat to civilized computing. SecureIDA has done a pretty good job making a complicated process (secure remote access) manageable.

Setup at SecureIDA requires some identifying information (name, username, password) and some company information (address, phone, two quick demographic questions about size and type of business). Before starting an involved process, like defining a new connection type, you get a quick overview page explaining what you will see. One person will administrate the service while the others will merely log in to your private area on SecureIDA through a URL like gaskin.secureida.com, give their name and password, and see a Web page with their preconfigured options hidden behind friendly icons.

One computer on your network must install the IronDoor Agent software to act as traffic cop between the local computers and remote clients linking in. Remote systems route through SecureIDA’s host to the local computer traffic cop. Windows networking and remote desktop services carry the load the rest of the way.

Yes, that means only Windows users get the benefits. I prefer all companies do a better job supporting Linux and Macintosh users, but the old saying applies: don’t look a gift remote access service in the mouth.

One of the better ideas hides behind the cute icons users see when they log in to your private SecureIDA portal. The administrator turns remote service start-up and authentication into one click for users. Since the user passed the portal authentication requirements or they wouldn’t see the icons, security remains under control.

Other services like LogMeInFree and software like RealVNC offer some of these features, but SecureIDA jumped ahead. That kind of competition — their version of an arms race — means more and better access options than ever before.