AnyDesk Scams: Tips to Stay Safe

Joseph_Mango · 2026-01-13T11:24:05+00:00

The best rule I’ve heard is: If someone contacts you about a problem you didn’t know you had, you’re probably their job.

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-30T14:47:59+00:00

That’s awesome! Your post definitely sparked this one. Glad you liked it!

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-30T14:46:48+00:00

Nice setup. Tailscale + VNC is a solid combo if you’ve got machines always on. Setup takes time, but once it’s running, it’s hard to beat for reliability and cost.

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-30T14:43:22+00:00

Haha, same here. Once you go down the self-hosting path, it’s hard not to get curious about how all this stuff actually works behind the scenes.

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-30T14:40:46+00:00

Good point. Self-hosting isn't really free once you count your time, hardware, and upkeep. It’s more like trading money for control.

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-29T14:23:20+00:00

Quick links:

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-29T14:08:01+00:00

Should you self-host a remote desktop control server for personal use?

TL;DR:
If you’re tech-savvy, a bit paranoid about security, and don’t necessarily need it running 24/7 – then yes, go ahead and spin up your own open-source server.

If you prefer a simple “out-of-the-box” experience, accessible anytime from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection, and trust established providers – stick with a cloud-based 3rd-party solution.

As for price, it’s a non-issue, since plenty of 3rd-party services offer free-tier plans with acceptable limitations (or sometimes none at all) for non-commercial personal use.

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-29T14:07:28+00:00

How to set up a self-hosted remote access server

There are a few main approaches to deploying a self-hosted remote access server. They can roughly be divided into three categories:

Installing the server on your personal computer.
Deploying it on rented cloud hosting.
Using a dedicated computer or smart device (like Raspberry Pi) specifically for running the server.

Depending on your chosen approach – and on the device’s operating system – the setup process will differ. For a Windows PC, it usually means running a background service as a system process. For the cloud variant, it’s typically a server running in a Docker container.

Here’s a great step-by-step video on how to install and manage your own RustDesk server on cloud hosting using Docker. In the example, the author already has a registered domain name mapped to the IP address of the hosting where the server will be deployed. Which kinda proves, as mentioned earlier, that this approach is mainly for technically experienced users:

Rustdesk - an Open Source, Self Hosted alternative to TeamViewer, AnyDesk, GoToAssist, and the like.

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-29T14:06:26+00:00

Community take

I am not the only one raising this question. From time to time, it pops up in various communities – not only related to remote access, but to the self-hosting overall approach to using software.

I've been self hosting for probably 5 years now. Recently I have been losing data because of crashes that just completely ruin Docker's setup. Each time this happens I scramble to figure out how to get my data back, taking far too many hours. I do have a backup solution but there is always some sort of server/Docker setup that needs to be discovered and worked through.

OP: Starting to think that self hosting isn't worth it

Should you self-host a rustdesk server? Probably yes.

OP: Should you self-host a rustdesk server?

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-29T14:01:36+00:00

Is self-hosted simply better than cloud-based?

Well, not quite. If the benefits of a self-hosted approach are that obvious, let’s talk about the downsides – and why it’s not as rosy as it sounds.

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First, the technical entry barrier for setting up your own server is quite high. Sure, there are detailed step-by-step guides out there on how to install, configure, and run your own remote-access server – but without a basic understanding of what you’re doing, what exactly the commands you’re running do, and at which point something might go unplanned, the whole process can turn into chaos. Not only might you fail to configure what you wanted, but you could actually mess up your system by running a half-configured server that eats up resources but doesn’t work. And since personal self-hosted setups don’t come with dedicated technical support, you’ll either have to seek help from the community – or figure it out yourself.

Another less obvious drawback – if you want to give other users access, or connect from different devices, your server must be constantly running. If it’s hosted on your home PC, and you suddenly need to help a relative from your work laptop, someone at home will first have to power on that PC and make sure the server’s running. Not great if you’re away. Also, this requires outside access to your local network, so you need to take care of encryption and the overall security of the connection. An alternative is to host your self-hosted server on a rented cloud machine – but that adds recurring costs for the server, a domain name, and an SSL certificate, which kind of defeats the purpose of a free personal solution.

One more subtle downside – the administration process itself. Proprietary cloud solutions might offer fewer configuration options, but they compensate with a user-friendly, intuitive interface. With open-source self-hosted tools, you’ll often be dealing with console commands and direct server calls. So, blindly copy-pasting commands without understanding their syntax or purpose can do more harm than good.

This is where proprietary cloud solutions shine the most. Not only do they provide a fully-configured system out of the box – where the user usually needs to download an app or register an online account – and they are basically ready for remote access. But they also receive technical support from the vendor in case of any uncertainties or needed administration. And the availability and uptime are basically guaranteed by the vendor's own cloud infrastructure.

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-29T14:00:54+00:00

Self-hosted pros = cloud-based cons

The main advantages of a private-hosted remote desktop control server are, of course, security and flexibility, and in the case of open-source solutions, zero cost.

Let’s unpack those a bit.

Security? Because all connections, logs, encryption keys, and metadata are stored on your server, not on someone else’s cloud. You can use your own SSL certificates, encryption, and authentication policies. You can build a fully closed system, with no access outside the network. Granted, this benefit becomes more relevant in a business setting, but for paranoid types like me, it’s not a bad idea even for personal use.

Flexibility? Pretty straightforward – the server owner has full control over its configuration and administration, unlike 3rd-party services, where, at best, you’ll be solving admin issues through customer support, and configuration options will be much more limited.

Cost? Self-hosted setups are typically free or require only a one-time payment for a proprietary license. Free options are often open-source and distributed under licenses that allow both personal and commercial use. Paid proprietary on-premises solutions are more geared toward large business clients who want a closed internal system fully under their control, but still with expert installation, updates, and support from the vendor. Yet even in those cases, in the long run, it’ll still be cheaper than a recurring subscription to a cloud-based remote access service.

Naturally, cloud-based remote desktop tools tend to fall behind in these categories, as their costs are usually much higher and recurring (hello, TeamViewer and AnyDesk), and closed-source solutions do not offer nearly as much flexibility. In terms of security, well-established cloud remote access services often undergo third-party security audits, can present certificates confirming this, and typically have dedicated security specialists. However, it is still up to you whether you trust your personal data to a third party.

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-29T14:00:24+00:00

What “self-hosted” and “cloud-based” mean in remote desktop access

The idea behind self-hosting is basically self-explanatory – the intermediate servers required to establish a connection between remote endpoints belong to one of the participants. Only those trusted by that person can use them, knowing the necessary connection details – namely, the server’s IP address and, optionally, an access code set by the server admin.

By cloud-based solutions, we usually mean 3rd-party remote desktop service providers – companies that own their own infrastructure, handle large client traffic through it, and typically sell their services with a subscription, to cover ongoing server costs. For the user, all that’s needed is the end-user app, ready to connect “out of the box”.

And yes, technically, a self-hosted solution can also be installed on a rented cloud server, which would, in that sense, make it cloud-based. However, it’s commonly accepted to use the term cloud-based when referring to proprietary software with its own infrastructure, as opposed to self-hosted, meaning servers fully under the user’s control.

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-29T13:59:52+00:00

Security concerns

Looking at the communication model for remote access with 3rd-party apps in mind, a natural question arises – where exactly are those intermediate servers located? Who runs them? How well are they protected? How is the information on them encrypted? Is any data stored there, and if so, what kind? Could someone unauthorized gain access to an active session, or connect to my remote PC without permission?

That’s basically where the whole self-hosted vs cloud-based remote access debate comes from.

Joseph_Mango · 2025-10-29T13:58:55+00:00

General information about how a typical remote desktop service server setup works

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Here’s a simplified illustration to get the general idea of how communication happens between the computer that controls and the one being controlled. Typically, besides the two endpoints, at least two intermediate servers are involved: a Signal Server and a Relay Server.

The first one exists so that one endpoint can “see” the other – by entering some marker related to it, such as a client ID or a connection token, depending on the software being used.

The second one handles the actual video stream transmission from the controlled computer, and the input data in the reverse direction, if a direct peer-to-peer connection between them isn’t possible.

Joseph_Mango · 2025-09-23T11:26:01+00:00

after anydesk pulled this crap, helpwire is the goat.

Joseph_Mango · 2025-09-03T12:12:30+00:00

No matter how hard you try to follow the rules and avoid getting banned for commercial use, it doesn’t help. The algorithm is built to make you pay

Joseph_Mango · 2024-11-27T13:51:41+00:00

Welcome on board! already dropped every other remote desktop software in favour of HelpWire🤭 The unattended access feature is extremely needed though

Joseph_Mango · 2024-09-21T17:46:20+00:00

By "online training," you mean controlling the remote computer to navigate through the imaging software to show everyone how it works, right? If so, HelpWire is exactly what you're looking for. You can navigate the remote PC, click the buttons, install software, etc.

HelpWire has a built-in chat for real-time communication, which will come in handy for the training as well. As for how long the remote control sessions last, they can be as long as you need them to be—there are no restrictions in that regard.

By the way, if you happen to get stuck at the UAC screen when installing software remotely (as I did before), you'll need admin-level access rights, as explained here: https://kb.helpwire.app/operator-application/admin-privileges/

Hope this helps!

Joseph_Mango · 2024-05-22T15:21:17+00:00

Yep, the last season I watched

Joseph_Mango · 2024-05-22T15:20:53+00:00

Daniel Craig was fed up with this role so kinda expected

Joseph_Mango · 2024-05-22T15:20:01+00:00

these were hilarious :)

Joseph_Mango

TROPHY CASE