XeroBank InterviewWith Steve Topletz

by Mark HerpelAs the Internet evolves into a more useful mediumof commerce for shopping, banking, employment,

and social networking, more and more condential

information is exposed.Sensitive information from personal computers,banks, and even governments is now the daily tar-get for skilled hackers and identity thieves. If you

are not careful, your nancial data is just a click

away from being exposed and misused. Sincedigital gold currency transactions are not refund-able, DGC users are a frequent and special targetof the hackers.Thankfully, a serious contender has emerged tocombat these threats. XeroBank is poised to of-fer a digital strong-arm against would-be snoops,thieves, and hackers. Debuting with sophisticatedtechnology, this new offering displays cunning in-sight into the needs of its clients. For all practicalpurposes, XeroBank allows you and your data tobecome invisible on the internet.XeroBank has proven itself in the past with thefree, anonymous browser, called xB Browser, for-merly known as Torpark. xB Browser is indeed themost popular anonymous browser on the internet,with over 6.5 million downloads under its belt.This month, XeroBank prepares to launch its up-

graded network, offering private surng, and anon

-ymous email. Next month, services will expand to

offshore le storage as well.

Steve Topletz, a consultant with XeroBank, agreedto give us an interview.

(Q) Tell me about your privacy services andhow they work. How ‘anonymous’ are they?

In the XeroBank 2.0 network, all your computer’s

trafc is anonymous and encrypted, no matter

what program you are running. It all gets routedinto the XeroBank network, without exception or

need for conguration. That includes instant mes

sages, mail, ftp, voice chat, le sharing, web surf

ing, and any other trafc you can think of. That

means that eavesdroppers will have no way toknow what websites you visit, where you go, or what you are doing while you are online. While

there is not currently any scientic way to mea

-sure anonymity, the XeroBank network providesthe fastest commercial privacy network in theworld, while employing sound security techniques.For example, let us say you are a US customer.You use our software to select that you want your

trafc to appear to be coming from Switzerland.XeroBank would rst route your encrypted trafc

from your US location to an entry node, perhapsin Canada, then across the Atlantic Ocean and out

from a node in Switzerland. Your XeroBank trafc

never exits from the same country it entered. This

technique makes it difcult for an ISP to analyzethe trafc because it travels out of their network.

We also employ cryptography where applicable,and we have a no-logging policy regarding cus-tomer activities. Subsequently, XeroBank does

not have specic client data to share with network

providers, legal authorities, or law enforcement of any jurisdiction. However, we can track criminalsand scammers if we are determined, but any indi-

vidual or corporation would have an exceedinglyhard time trying to do it themselves, and it wouldbe virtually impossible to force us to do it againstour will.

(Q) Who are you intending to pick up as a cus-tomer by offering such a privacy service? Whoneeds this kind of protection?

The sad fact is that everyone needs this level of

protection. Too often we assume that our nan

-cial affairs, purchases, phone calls, emails, surf-ing habits, and messages are secure from pry-ing eyes. The reality is that all of these pieces of information can be compromised at many levelsand likely have been already. We believe in theinherent right to privacy of all people, and our ser-vices strive to manifest this right with easy-to-usesolutions. With XeroBank, you put an end to ev-eryone who would like to gather data about you,your family, or your business. When they try tobite down on your data, they will only get a mouth-ful of encryption.

(Q) Tell me about the XeroBank Client Secrecy

Guarantee that I nd on your web site. Why do

you have one?

The XeroBank Client Secrecy Guarantee is the rst

document of its kind. Unlike other privacy policieswhich state what a company plans on using your personal data for, our Client Secrecy Guaranteeasserts how your data will be protected. All other major anonymity providers are subject to US inter-ference and tampering, so when someone comesalong and requests your information from them,they have no choice but to comply.XeroBank is immune to such tactics because weare incorporated in the Republic of Panama. Sincewe are an international company and offer privacyprotection services not only to individuals, but tocompanies and governments as well, we must bevery democratic in our relationships.

(Q) The xB Browser: I’ve been using the freeversion for some time now, but how exactlydoes it work? How did this product evolve?

xB Browser started life back in 2006. I wrote it for a human rights organization called Hacktivismo,which focuses on anti-censorship and privacy. Thebrowser allows people to create secure connec-tions, blocking anyone from seeing what you aredoing. The software can even be installed ontoUSB, so you can take it anywhere. After the proj-ect was picked up by XeroBank, we began design-ing the next generation of anonymous browser.Today xB Browser offers an impressive set of fea-tures. When you combine it with the XeroBanknetwork, you can experience the internet and itsrich media at broadband speed, without leavingtracks tracks or compromising your privacy. Ad-ditionally, we’ve added some rather sophisticatedfeatures that even most anti-spyware lack, suchas removal of Flash cookies.

(Q) What other software do you provide?

We will be releasing xB Mail, which will operatein the same way as xB Browser, except it will beused for e-mail. Naturally it is designed with Xer-oBank’s network in mind, but it is a universal mailclient based on Mozilla Thunderbird. It performsPGP encryption and connects to our anonymousmail servers. Again, you never have to worry aboutsending mail in the clear, as our servers only ac-cept encrypted connections.We also offer a secure operating system called xBMachine. It is a hardened Linux system that looksand acts like Windows, so it is easy for everyoneto use. It can run on Mac, Linux, or Windows whenyou use VMWare. We will be releasing a new ver-sion of it in a few weeks that is standalone, doesn’trequire VMWare, and can also be booted from CD,if you don’t trust your host operating system. This

software is used for critical nancial transactions

that must stay anonymous and private. The tech-

| DGCMagazine.com | March 2008 Issue

nology involved is highly resistant to hacking andspying, even in the most hostile environments.

(Q) Where are your servers located that handle

all this trafc?

XeroBank servers are scattered in data centersaround the globe. Our unique network designallows us to fearlessly operate in any country inwhich we choose to deploy servers. All serversare virtualized, encrypted, password- and key-encoded, and security-hardened. If servers aretampered with or unplugged, they will not run. If someone was to attempt to steal our servers, itwould render no useful or unencrypted data.

(Q) I know countries like China have been bigon censorship and blocking communicationswithin their country. Can you offer services topeople in these types of countries where thegovernment is clearly anti-freedom?

For those who want to use our services, but areblocked from entry by their ISP or country, we willoffer private entry nodes into our network for their XeroBank account.

(Q) What needs do XeroBank privacy products

ll, and what do you offer that is different from

anyone else?

We offer a level of security and responsiveness,that until recently, wasn’t available unless you werea super-power government with bureaucrats andagencies. With XeroBank, you can have cutting-edge security that you can carry in your wallet.

(Q) Are you referring to your XeroBank card so-lution? What’s the advantage of that option?

The way it works is like this: you have two cards.

The rst is your Deposit Card, and that is how you

fund your account. This card can have your iden-

tity and nancial information attached to it without

risk. The second card is the Access Card, whichis essentially the “numbered account” that anony-mously spends the balance you deposited with the

rst card.

The main advantage is that the Access Card is allyou need. You can download our software for freefrom anywhere, and you use your Access Cardnumber to access your services. Carry it in your wallet, and give additional Access Cards to any-one with whom you want to share your services.With the Access Card you don’t need to remember any usernames or passwords. You aren’t limitedto the number of downloads, nor are you expos-

ing yourself to compromise or nancial loss if you

misplace your card.

(Q) Why are there two cards?

This is because we are literally separating the ac-count from the activities that the account pays for.If your account is for personal use, you keep your Deposit Card hidden, encrypted, or memorized,and you carry your Access Card in your wallet.If you want to share XeroBank with others, youcan give Access Cards to whomever. Each cardgives them their own anonymous email accountand services, which you can turn on, set limits for,and turn off. This design is also well-suited whena business wants to employ XeroBank services.The manager holds onto the Deposit Card anddistributes Access Cards to the employees. Themanager gets to control the expenditures, and theemployees have peace of mind that no one, in-cluding the manager, is spying on them.

(Q) How is it anonymous if your nancial infor

-mation is attached?

Great question. Unfortunately, the answer is slight-ly technical. We designed a new technology calledVAULTS, which stands for Variable AnonymousUser Letterbox Token System. VAULTS allows youto buy “tokens” using a real identity (the DepositCard), and drop the tokens off in the “letterbox”.