The Cocoon Blog
The Internet as it should be: private, secure and virus free

Cocoon is officially patent pending protected. One of the technologies we are patenting relates to transcoding. Specifically, dynamic out-of-band management of the transcoding process without interruption of the content delivery. This allows for the “tuning” of the content stream utilizing out-of-band communications within the context of a system utilizing a proxy.

What this means to you and me:

Cocoon takes content that has potential for containing malware, and transforms it into a benign virus free format delivered to your computer. And it happens so fast you literally don’t know it’s happening. It’s just seamless viewing whether it’s a video or an animated advertisement on a web page (both of which are prime malware carriers).

Another technology we are patenting is our method of helping you beat spam. Most of us have to manage multiple email accounts – one good one, and one for signing up for services that we don’t want to have our “real” email address. Instead, Cocoon can dynamically generate (and conveniently manage for you) a unique email address and post office box on the fly. Use this email address for this one service then delete it when you are done. No mess, no spam.

Many more things are happening with Cocoon that I will share shortly (think mobile…). Be sure to sign up for the Beta at www.GetCocoon.com and we’ll get it to you as soon as it’s available. Until then, careful browsing!

About two months ago, we launched the Cocoon service in what could be called its alpha phase. We invited only 20 users to test what it would be like to browse the web privately and securely. Would browsing be slowed down? Would people understand the interface? How would people like the features we were introducing?

The feedback was terrific. We learned much about the controls and features – and most importantly how to communicate these features to users. People loved the idea of not giving up their identity and IP address, but they wondered how to be sure it was really working? This was answered by a quick visit to www.whatsmyip.org showing the IP address of Cocoon servers as the browsing source. Demonstrating the safety of Cocoon browsing is more difficult. Sure you could go to a malware laden site and browse away unscathed, but to be really sure you’d then have to go back without Cocoon and end up infected, and who wants to do that? (You don’t want to crash the car to prove the airbags work.) We’re still working on a way to demonstrate Cocoon anti-malware protection so people really get it.

Even as testing was going on, we knew that Cocoon browsing would soon be taking another form. Yes, the Cocoon browser has some great features, but what about people that don’t want to switch from their current browser of choice? Our engineering team was already at work on a plug-in offering all the features, security and privacy of the Cocoon service but accessed using leading browsers: Firefox, IE, and Safari.

This meant the development on the Cocoon browser would stop, while the focus was full speed ahead on a plug-in. While it is hard to take a step sideways in development, we know the end result will be a better solution for our users.

So where are we now? We have a functioning Firefox plug-in that allows us to browse safely and privately through Cocoon servers. We are now adding features that we tested with our alpha browser — anonymous email addresses and enhanced favorites and history — along with new features for password and profile management.

It’s difficult to wait. We want to introduce our new way of using the web now and hear what users have to say. But, each day we get a bit closer to a full beta launch. Go to www.GetCoccon.com if you’d like to be notified when the plug-in becomes available. Until then, surf with care.

In my house we have a Mac and a PC. If I believe the Mac guy in TV ads and my Mac friends, I’d be convinced that Macs don’t get viruses.

Some experts state (here and here) that Macs are as bad as or worse than Windows PCs in terms of vulnerability to malware. “There is no magic fairy dust protecting Macs,” says Dino Dai Zovi, co-author of The Mac Hacker’s Handbook. The critics of the experts make sense when they defend the advantages of Macs in detailed comments and blog postings.

Me, I’m just confused. I want to believe that Macs are inherently safer, but I still take precautions, and I use anti-virus software on the Mac, (just as I do on the PC). Nevertheless, I keep my fingers crossed when anyone in the family goes online. I’d like to be more comfortable about Mac security and privacy online. I’d like to prevent a big Mac attack rather than clean one up after the fact.

Was it a bug in my browser, or did I get tricked into installing malicious software? Does it matter? Probably not. Will it happen again? Probably. The sad fact is we’re both flawed. Both of us can be exploited by bad guys on the net. The scary part — the vast majority of malicious exploits don’t exploit buggy browsers, but unwitting end-users, (fascinating article in PC World). It’s called “social engineering,” which makes it sound benign if not downright benevolent. After all, it’s “social,” which is a good thing, right? And it’s “engineering,” which is good, right? Put ’em together, and you get . . . something bad. Something deceptive and malicious. So what’s a person to do? The easy answer is always be on guard and keep your browser updated. The better answer: browse with protection against social engineering attacks, so you can never be tricked into downloading malicious code. And the good news, it’s on its way.

Even without wearing my tinfoil hat and ducking the black helicopters, online privacy does matter to me. As someone who lives with a roommate and shares office space, do I really want just anyone who walks up to my computer to hit the back button and see where I’ve just been?

It’s most likely innocent, but do I want a co-worker to know I’m considering a new job? Or a roommate to know I might think about moving from Maine? (After all I think this every winter – why get her nervous this year?)

It’s not that I’m trying to “hide something,” but shouldn’t I decide what to share? What I search for, look at, and think about is my business.

Sure, I could clear history after the fact, or turn on private browsing up front, but then I lose my record of places I’ve been and might want to return to. I want the best of both worlds. Privacy with rich history. Seems reasonable doesn’t it?

CocoonApp will go live before the end of October! It will be a limited availability launch as we ramp up.  If you want to get on the list, stay tuned for our invitation site link to be posted here.

Meanwhile, ongoing testing of the rapid development is going great. Sure we’re learning and changing things, but that’s the point. Usability is improving daily, and feedback shows people want to browse with privacy effortlessly, while avoiding spyware, malware, and viruses. What’s fun is to see people recognize how complacent we’ve all been with the status quo. They now expect browsing should be private and virus-free. Imagine that . . . coming by the end of October.

In two hours I’ll find out when CocoonApp launches its limited beta trials. It’s hard to imagine and impossible to explain how much needs to get done for this to happen.

What is CocoonApp? Imagine an application that would let you browse the web with nothing touching your hard drive. No malware or spyware to ever bog down your machine again, privacy from websites that want to spam you, or anyone you share your computer with. Why? Because with CocoonApp, you’re not browsing the net on your computer, you’re doing it on our servers. We just show it to you on your computer. You interact with the web the same way, but with the peace of mind of knowing you are protected. Hence one of the tag lines we’ve considered: “Peace of mind and the internet together at last”. Well, when we go live it will be “at last”… I’ll let you know.