password protection for history

[Guest]

i use AIM+ on my laptop, which i like to let my friends borrow. but i don't want to let them read some of my private IMs. so do you think i'd be possible you to add some kind of optional password protection. which might also include some kind of encryption for the HTML files the IMs are saved in.

thanks,
joseph

[Big-O Mark]

This feature has been in the works ever since AIM+ 1.0 was released. You can always see what we've got in mind for future versions of AIM+ by checking out the 'Coming Soon' page on the main site:

http://www.big-o-software.com/aimplus-comingsoon.php

[Maraklov]

...following mookie's links back to this post... :whew:

how are you planning to do this? i mean, it's conceivable that *through aim+ history* you could block ppl with a password, but how to block them from going around that and into the log dirs?

what's your current plan, ryan? it's not that i don't trust my friends, but well, no... i guess i don't trust them...

sneaky bastards.

[irishfreakout]

I think the idea is to stop people from casually viewing your history. If they are smart enough to go look into the log files... then they are probably clever enough to bypass most security measures.

However, you could encrypt logs too if security was really needed...

[irishfreakout]

I think i had some good ideas in my other post (sorry for posting that new thread... i searched for a thread but did not find this one because it was older than the last 30 days)

So here's what I wrote (which was deleted due to thread repetition)
==========

The history is a great feature of AIM+... however if you are on a computer that is shared (or has the possbility of being shared... like let someone hop on their aim account real quick or such) other people can easily read all of your AIM conversations. This is especially frustrating for people who share computers with parents!!! (seriously... think about the stuff you talk about on AIM... I know I don't want anyone else reading that stuff!)

Note: the following proposals should be options... of course if people don't want a secure history should work just the same as does now... but the option should be there!!!

2 ways that I see this could be done:

1) Only allow the history of the current logged in account to be viewed

problems:
-if you use multiple accounts and want to check other histories
-if you leave your aim logged in, anyone could walk up and view your history (say if your computer is in a public place and you don't lock your computer)

2) Enable the ability to require a password to view the history for a specific user. This bypasses the above problems as it will allow you to check any history and also does not allow people to "peek" in at your history while you are away from the computer. Another further advantage is that you could have a DIFFERENT password for your history... thus if your AIM password was stolen, people would still be unable to look in your history

I think this feature is DEFINATELY needed. I've shown this great feature to many friends, but most have uninstalled it simply because of the risks involved with having someone else being able to dig QUITE deeply into your private life!

Other ideas are:
- specific person locking... password protecting history for a specific person
- the first time AIM plus is run on a name it pops up with a dialog asking for requested security options for their history... allowing them to set their password
- allowing the choice between the 2 above history security options

[a big sombrero]

couldnt you just go to the history folder and archive it or something to where they cant view it? would that stop the profile viewer from viewing it?

[grinderf]

I don't really have any ideas on how to implement it, but I just wanted to put in my 2¢ and help create a demand for this feature, because I too would appreciate it a great deal.

Thanks

[Jaypoc]

I too agree that password protecting the History files and encrypting them would be a beneficial feature. I like the capabilities of AIM+ and certainly love the fact I can go back and recall past conversations I've had since I meet a LOT of people on AIM due to my website (It's a Cam Site and I get a lot of random IMs/Emails through it).

I certainly hope that this feature becomes a reality in the near future.

I've read the past few posts and believe that there should be a seperate password for the History function, and not just a user-lockout that only allows the current user to view his/her history.

[jO710]

This is the one flaw in this awesome program. The fact that anyone who uses the computer can see anything you don't want them to. I have talked to many people who have used AIM+, but uninstalled it after realizing the insecurity involoved with it.
Now, for me (and many other people, I'm sure) the people who might read the history are not very skilled with computers, meaning if they didn't know how to get into the History viewer, then they couldn't see those personal conversations. So, maybe until Big-O Software creates a code for passoword protection, they can do other things that would help. For example, don't let the history viewer be so easily accesible. Or maybe add a feature to take it out of the menu bar in an IM window. Why not just add little things that would help? Just a suggestion.

[Plasma2002b]

<><><><><QUICK FIX><><><><>

Theres a quick fix you can do to stop the insecurities of computer illerterate people viewing your logs! (i say that because if sombody knows how to look through your hard drive through explorer, then yea.... but you could just alwaays hide the directory where the logs are saved to somewhere where no1 would ever think of looking)

Just open up the folder that contains your AIM+ executable

maybe somthein like

C:/program files/AIM+/

and ya see the file named "AIM+ History Viewer.exe"? well, highlight it and press F2 and put a dash in front of it.

make it read
"-AIM+ History Viewer.exe"

Problem solved! lol

Now if someone tries to view your history from the button on AIM, it cant find the right file to open, so it wont load.

To view your logs, you could either go to the log directory and just view the logs manually, or you could change the filename back to the original "AIM+ History Viewer.exe" .

You could even create a batch file that would automatically change that name back and forth FOR you.

lol.... that would be cool.....

**thinks to himself: damn... thats a good idea.... im gonna do that**

lol

[jO710]

Wow Plasma2002b, awesome idea.. I would have never thought of that, I just tried viewing the history viewer from AIM+, and it couldn't find the file, yet it still writes to it- Perfect. You solved my problem, and I'm sure a lot of other peoples'. Thank's again man.

[jO710]

<<<You could even create a batch file that would automatically change that name back and forth FOR you.>>>

You can actually do that? how?

[a big sombrero]

i would also benefit from that batch file, lol, you know the screenname if you ever do do it

[Plasma2002b]

well, ill just let yall get it from here.....

http://aim.servebeer.com/batch123.zip


basically, it does everything for you.

Just the ONE thing that takes just a hint of intelligence is that you gotta have it in the AIM+ directory (and it will tell you if you dont, lol)


That would probably be something like

C:\Program Files\AIM+


have fun!

[Master Jedi]

Another idea for those of us with NTFS filesystems: just set the NTFS permissions so that no other user on the computer can view the history for your screenname. Alas, this wouldn't help if you leave your computer unlocked and unattended. Not that I have to worry about everyone reading my history files, considering I'm the only one that uses my computer and that I have a password protected screensaver I wrote that also locks the computer on exit (so it requires 2 passwords to do anything). Plus I hide the taskbar (actually minimize it to the system tray -- weird that you can actually do that) and the desktop, so after unlocking it, my computer displays a completely black screen .