According to Private Communications Corporation (PCC), the Private WiFi service is designed to protect public access WiFi sessions from electronic eavesdropping.
Kent Lawson, the firm's CEO, said that using public WiFi hotpots leaves users vulnerable to hackers `sniffing' your WiFi signal and eavesdropping the entire IP data session.
Firewalls and anti-virus software will not protect you from these internet sniffers, he claims, which means it is relatively easy for them to steal vital information, such as names, passwords and credit card numbers.
“We’ve been conducting internal tests on Private WiFi and are trialling the service [and software] at the moment via our website. Users can try the service out for a month and if they like it, can subscribe at the rate of $9.95 a month or $84.95 a year”, he told Infosecurity.
“We still have another release of the Windows software planned, but we are looking to formally launch the service around the middle of September”, he added.
Infosecurity notes that the Private WiFi client software seems to operate in a similar manner to some commercial VPN applications designed for corporate usage, such as the iPass VPN client.
Private WiFi, however, seems firmly aimed at single and small groups of users, which makes it an interesting offering for smaller businesses and road warriors.