Safety
KIplatz is built so that you can check its safety: signatures, checksums, limits, logs. It is built in this order: safety, privacy, correctness, and only then speed.
Where the protection applies
| Area | Protection |
|---|---|
| Updates | carry our signature, your PC checks it before installing |
| Foreign code | none, others only send numbers and text |
| Access of your device | random ID and secret, the server only holds a check value |
| Shared knowledge | word filter, quarantine, a check by a second PC |
| Emergency | kill switch, a backup every night |
The program and its updates
The program is signed, which is why Windows does not ask at startup. It needs no administrator rights and only works in your user folder. When it is built, only packages with a fixed checksum go in.
Every update carries our signature. Your PC checks it and only installs the update if it really is newer. The old version stays in place for one start. To look by hand, use “Nach Update suchen” (check for updates) in the menu “Hilfe” (help).
No foreign code on your PC
What your PC does for others is numbers and text. A program from another member never lands on your PC. Skills are plain text, nothing in them is run. Model files have a checksum built in.
The interface for your own programs is closed at first. Once switched on, it can only be reached from your own PC and needs a key.
Devices, keys and pairing
Every device gets a random ID and a secret when it joins. On your PC, these keys are stored encrypted by Windows, and only your Windows user can read them.
In your home network, devices pair with a code that expires after 10 minutes or 5 failed attempts. After that they talk to each other encrypted. The sign-in link for your phone is valid for 10 minutes and only once.
Files from your PC at home, only for your devices
With Ask your home you fetch a file from your PC to your phone while you are out. Only a device that you added at the PC yourself may search, and every question carries a seal that only your PC checks.
The file travels encrypted. The server passes it on but cannot read it, and it deletes it after pickup, after 24 hours at the latest. Your PC never shows system folders, hidden files and password vaults.
House rules and checks
The house rules are a short text that every member sees. A word filter stands at every door: for questions, for pages looked up, for skills and for everything that wants to enter the shared knowledge. A second model checks anything new in quarantine before it becomes visible.
Every entry belongs to a member's PC. We can remove any source and block any PC, and members can report. Part of all the work goes to a second PC as well. If the results differ, both are thrown away.
Kill switch, backup and watch
With one click we stop the whole community. Then the server hands out no more questions and no more jobs, every program shows the reason and only answers on its own.
A backup is made every night and kept for 14 days. One watch checks every 5 minutes whether the service answers and restarts it if needed. A second one looks from the outside every 15 minutes and reports to us.
Careful
Found a security hole? Report it in confidence to support@kiplatz.at with the subject “Sicherheit” (security), never publicly in the workshop. How that works is explained under Report a security hole.
What is stored about you is explained under Privacy.