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Frequently Asked Questions

Everything users ask most often about Paranoid: installation, scanning, pro tools, licensing, payments, privacy, and legal information.

General

What is Paranoid?

Paranoid is a native macOS network security suite that combines device discovery, vulnerability scanning, WiFi and Bluetooth threat monitoring, hidden camera detection, host-based IDS capabilities, and integrated professional security tools in one interface.

Who is Paranoid for?

It is designed for security professionals, sysadmins, consultants, advanced home users, and anyone who needs full visibility and defensive control over local networks and connected devices.

Does it work only on macOS?

Yes. Paranoid is built specifically for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) to provide deep system integration, native performance, and a consistent user experience.

Do I need command-line skills?

No. Paranoid wraps advanced scanning and security workflows into a GUI-first experience. Power users can still use advanced settings, but daily use does not require terminal expertise.

Installation and Requirements

What are the system requirements?

Paranoid requires macOS 14+ and is distributed as a universal binary compatible with ARM64 and x86_64. Some advanced operations may require admin approval when enabling privileged capabilities.

What is the Privileged Helper and is it mandatory?

The Privileged Helper enables root-level operations (such as deeper scan modes). Core features can work without it, but installing it unlocks the full advanced feature set and improves scan depth.

Can I use Paranoid without Homebrew?

Yes. Core platform modules run without Homebrew. Homebrew is used to install/manage external professional tools inside the integrated Tools section.

Scanning and Security Features

How does Paranoid find more devices than basic scanners?

Paranoid uses a multi-phase discovery pipeline that combines ARP, service probes, protocol enrichment, and additional host validation instead of relying only on ping-based checks.

What kinds of threats can Paranoid detect?

Depending on enabled modules, Paranoid can detect suspicious device activity, vulnerability exposures, WiFi attacks (including evil twin indicators), Bluetooth tracker anomalies, unusual traffic patterns, and high-risk open service configurations.

Does it include CVE vulnerability checks?

Yes. The vulnerability module correlates detected service information with vulnerability intelligence and scoring logic to help prioritize remediation.

Can Paranoid monitor my network continuously?

Yes. You can run continuous monitoring and alerting workflows and combine them with automation rules to react faster to changes and suspicious events.

Monitor Mode 802.11

What is Monitor Mode 802.11 in Paranoid?

Monitor Mode turns your wireless adapter into a passive 802.11 sensor. Instead of seeing only your own connection, Paranoid can observe nearby WiFi frame activity to support authorized wireless security analysis.

What can I analyze with Monitor Mode?

You can analyze access points, probe requests, deauth/disassociation events, handshake-related activity, channel behavior, and client presence. This gives a high-resolution picture of the wireless environment around you.

Can I discover rogue or suspicious access points?

Yes. Monitor Mode surfaces AP-level details (SSID/BSSID/channel/security/signal) so you can identify suspicious infrastructure patterns such as duplicated SSIDs, weak setups, and unknown nearby APs.

How does deauthentication visibility help?

By highlighting abnormal deauth/disassociation bursts, Paranoid helps you detect potential wireless disruption or pre-attack behavior. This is useful when troubleshooting instability and during defensive assessments.

What is the handshake capture workflow used for?

Paranoid tracks handshake-related events for authorized auditing and verification workflows. Captures are organized by session context so you can review channels, involved clients, and timeline information more easily.

Do you support fixed channel and channel hopping?

Yes. Use fixed channel mode for focused analysis, or channel hopping for broader situational awareness across multiple channels in the same session.

Can I correlate clients with access points?

Yes. Paranoid maps observed client activity and AP context to help you understand who is communicating where, which clients are expected, and which ones may be unknown in your environment.

Are Monitor Mode sessions stored for later review?

Yes. Session history allows you to compare captures over time, document anomalies, and build incident evidence for audits and follow-up investigations.

Does Monitor Mode affect current WiFi connectivity?

It can, depending on hardware/driver behavior and capture strategy. Paranoid explicitly warns about possible temporary connectivity impact so you can run captures safely and intentionally.

Bluetooth Guard (All Functions)

What does Bluetooth Guard do exactly?

Bluetooth Guard continuously scans nearby wireless space to discover, classify, and assess both BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) and Classic Bluetooth devices. It helps you identify unknown devices, understand what each device exposes, and detect potential privacy/security risks such as suspicious trackers and insecure pairing behavior.

Does it scan both BLE and Classic Bluetooth?

Yes. Paranoid supports dual-mode Bluetooth discovery. This allows it to detect a wide range of devices including earbuds, watches, keyboards, phones, smart home devices, fitness wearables, beacons, and embedded IoT devices that may advertise through different Bluetooth modes.

How does distance estimation work?

Distance is estimated using received signal strength (RSSI) and available transmit power data. Devices are grouped into practical proximity bands (for example immediate, near, medium, far) to help you prioritize nearby unknown devices first during investigations.

What is GATT service enumeration and why is it useful?

GATT enumeration inspects advertised Bluetooth services and characteristics to infer what a device can do and what type of data it may expose (for example battery, health metrics, device info, location-related services). This gives much more context than a device name alone and improves risk triage.

Can Paranoid detect tracking devices like AirTag and similar beacons?

Yes. Bluetooth Guard includes tracker-focused detection heuristics to identify likely tracking devices, including known patterns related to AirTag-class devices and other popular tracker ecosystems. Detection is based on Bluetooth identity signals, behavior patterns, and service/manufacturer indicators when available.

How does rogue Bluetooth detection work?

You can establish a trusted baseline of known Bluetooth devices. During later scans, newly observed devices outside that baseline are flagged as unknown/rogue so you can quickly focus on changes that matter instead of re-checking known safe devices every time.

Does Bluetooth Guard perform a security assessment of devices?

Yes. Paranoid evaluates device-level risk factors such as weak/insecure pairing modes, potentially sensitive exposed services, and suspicious behavior signatures. This helps you distinguish harmless nearby devices from those that deserve immediate attention.

Can Bluetooth Guard run continuously?

Yes. It can be used in repeated or continuous monitoring workflows so that newly appearing devices and tracker-like patterns are detected quickly, rather than only during one-time manual checks.

How is blueutil related to Bluetooth features?

blueutil is one of the integrated professional tools and supports operational Bluetooth control/inspection workflows from inside Paranoid. Bluetooth Guard combines this integration with native detection logic to provide a practical, GUI-first security workflow.

Can I export or document Bluetooth findings?

Yes. Bluetooth findings can be reviewed in the same broader reporting workflow used by Paranoid so you can keep evidence for audits, incident documentation, and follow-up verification.

Pro Security Tools (Integrated)

How many professional security tools are integrated?

Paranoid currently integrates 12 professional tools in the application workflow, including Nmap, Masscan, SSLScan, Bettercap, Nikto, Nuclei, Hydra, Gobuster, blueutil, Hashcat, SNMP Walk, and Crunch.

Are these tools truly integrated or only external links?

They are integrated in-app with discovery, execution, and output flows so you can launch and manage operations from one interface rather than manually orchestrating separate terminal sessions.

Can I run tool workflows without repeated sudo prompts?

After privileged setup, tools that require elevated operations can run through the helper workflow, reducing repetitive prompt friction while keeping privileged actions controlled.

License, Billing, and Refunds

Is this a subscription?

No. The current offer is a one-time payment with lifetime license terms as described at checkout and in the Terms and Conditions.

Who processes payments?

Payments may be processed by Paddle as Merchant of Record, including billing and taxes where applicable.

Where can I read legal terms and refund conditions?

You can read full legal documents here: Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, Refund Policy, and Cookie Policy.

How do I request a refund?

Send a request to immaginet@pec.it including your order reference, purchase date, and reason. Requests are evaluated according to the Refund Policy and applicable law.

Privacy, Data, and Compliance

Does this website use analytics cookies?

No, not by default. The site is configured without analytics and marketing cookies. Consent storage is used for essential cookie preference recording.

Can users change cookie preferences later?

Yes. You can reopen Cookie Preferences at any time from the website footer and update optional consent categories.

Who is the data controller?

The data controller is Immaginet Srl, Via Pelliccerie 10, VAT IT02915190306. Legal/privacy contact: immaginet@pec.it.

Support and Troubleshooting

A scan seems slower than expected. What should I check first?

Check selected scan profile, network interface, VPN state, and whether deep scan modules are enabled. High thoroughness and large ranges naturally increase runtime.

I cannot run a specific integrated tool. What should I verify?

Confirm the tool is installed, supported on your architecture, and has required privileges. If needed, reinstall from the integrated tool management flow and retry.

Where can I contact support or legal?

For product support, use the dedicated Support page. For legal or privacy requests, contact immaginet@pec.it.

This FAQ is for general informational purposes and may be updated as product capabilities evolve.