News Don't use VPN providers - use your own...

[sfx2000]

Interesting take on things...

Don't use VPN services.

Don't use VPN services. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

gist.github.com

Personally, I do use VPN (quite a bit) but that is inbound to my router from my clients when I'm outside - I do have a VPS in the cloud (DigitalOcean at present, I was on Oracle Public Cloud for quite some time) for times when it can come in handy...

It's nice to have options

VPN's are only private if you own both ends, otherwise it's just a proxy server...

 

[sfx2000]

And another perspective...

VPN - a Very Precarious Narrative - Dennis Schubert

A very long article about commercial VPNs, their marketing strategies, and the truth behind their privacy and security claims.

overengineer.dev

 

[coxhaus]

I see no reason to use VPN unless you control both ends. I have been saying this for many years.

 

[Spud]

I see no reason to use VPN unless you control both ends. I have been saying this for many years.

Interesting take on things...

Don't use VPN services.

Don't use VPN services. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

gist.github.com

Personally, I do use VPN (quite a bit) but that is inbound to my router from my clients when I'm outside - I do have a VPS in the cloud (DigitalOcean at present, I was on Oracle Public Cloud for quite some time) for times when it can come in handy...

It's nice to have options

VPN's are only private if you own both ends, otherwise it's just a proxy server...

I'm looking for an alternative to NordVPN - the number of CAPTCHAs and blocked sites is getting stupid. I set up a VPN server on Oracle's free tier in the UK to test. While I control the Ubuntu instance, it's not clear to me what data Oracle can collect from its network interfaces and turn over on request (I suppose they can track all connections). In your experience, how much control is there really at both ends? If my connections are logged, would I be any better off than using my ISP IP?

 

[sfx2000]

it's not clear to me what data Oracle can collect from its network interfaces and turn over on request (I suppose they can track all connections).

They only see what you can see in the dashboard...

Remember, it's one of many millions of instances in their cloud, so it's not like they're collecting a huge amount of log data, just KPI's for CPU/Network usage, and that's about it.

 

[L&LD]

Just like @coxhaus, I too have also been saying this for years.

Paid-for VPNs are today's snake oil in the name of 'security' and 'privacy'. Driven by fear marketing. And end up doing the exact opposite of what they promise.

Not only are you 'trading' one actor who tracks you for another, but you are also now easier to 'find' too.

There are a handful of legitimate uses for paid-for VPNs. 99% of their use is not required and doesn't deliver what they promise though (and using one to stream mind-melting 'shows' isn't a legitimate use case, for me).

 

[sfx2000]

I do have a VPS in the cloud (DigitalOcean at present, I was on Oracle Public Cloud for quite some time) for times when it can come in handy...

I've posted this before, but it's still relevant..

GitHub - trailofbits/algo: Set up a personal VPN in the cloud

Set up a personal VPN in the cloud. Contribute to trailofbits/algo development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

 

[keefrto]

Just like @coxhaus, I too have also been saying this for years.

Paid-for VPNs are today's snake oil in the name of 'security' and 'privacy'. Driven by fear marketing. And end up doing the exact opposite of what they promise.

Not only are you 'trading' one actor who tracks you for another, but you are also now easier to 'find' too.

There are a handful of legitimate uses for paid-for VPNs. 99% of their use is not required and doesn't deliver what they promise though (and using one to stream mind-melting 'shows' isn't a legitimate use case, for me).

Wow I am truly shocked as I thought it was a good thing to have, so you don't use anything then? How do you maintain privacy and security may I ask? I do use Duckduckgo and brave as my main browsers as well but are they useless as well? Cheers

 

[L&LD]

If you're online, you're exposing yourself to potential bad actors. No matter what browser you use.

No, I don't use anything. If you're online, you've given up on privacy. VPNs have never offered security, except in fear-marketing techniques to get you to part with your money for vaporware.

Just like my systems were more infected by viruses when I was using any commercial AV software, paid-for VPNs are only a placebo for a service that cannot be offered when someone is actually connected to the 'net.

It took me a long time to understand the consequences of being online. And I thought I was being safe 'back then'. Today, I use the least online services possible to make my life substantially easier. Anything else I consider a scam of one form or another. My security is up to me. What I click, what I share, what I 'like'. Clickbait is seen a mile away and avoided at all costs.

On the topic of browsers, I want the fastest one, that will be around for the longest time, and one which uses the least resources too, including battery life. MS Edge and Bing have been my choice for a few years now. Google has been banned. I was just sick of the targeted ads that bombarded my life. Showing up not only in my browser of choice but also in my email too. Good riddance. Much happier now. And more focused.

 

[keefrto]

I guess I need to do more research especially around Nord and Proton who are my current VPN providers. Thanks very much for your thoughts and opinions.

 

[XIII]

Wasn't VPN useful (in the past) on public WiFi when Firesheep was a thing because https was not ubiquitous?

 

[Tech9]

Interesting take on things...

Don't use VPN services.

Don't use VPN services. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

gist.github.com

It's true, but some people just don't know and continue paying for "security" and "privacy". This is the main idea.

 

[Piotrek]

Wasn't VPN useful (in the past) on public WiFi when Firesheep was a thing because https was not ubiquitous?

The only correct behavior was and still is to use your own VPN server.
If your internet connection provides at least 15 Mbps upload, you can use the VPN server on your router even to watch FHD movies (~8Mbps).

I guess I need to do more research especially around Nord and Proton who are my current VPN providers.

Do you know who and for what purposes you share your data using commercial vpn?

ProtonMail, a hosted email service with a focus on end-to-end encrypted communications, has been facing criticism after a police report showed that French authorities managed to obtain the IP address of a French activist who was using the online service. The company has communicated widely about the incident, stating that it doesn’t log IP addresses by default and it only complies with local regulation — in that case Swiss law. While ProtonMail didn’t cooperate with French authorities, French police sent a request to Swiss police via Europol to force the company to obtain the IP address of one of its users.

ProtonMail logged IP address of French activist after order by Swiss authorities | TechCrunch

ProtonMail, a hosted email service with a focus on end-to-end encrypted communications, has been facing criticism after a police report showed that French

techcrunch.com

NordVPN operates under the jurisdiction of Panama and will only comply with requests from foreign governments and law enforcement agencies if these requests are delivered according to laws and regulations. We are 100% committed to our zero-logs policy – to ensure users’ ultimate privacy and security, we never log their activity unless ordered by a court in an appropriate, legal way.

NordVPN introduces transparency reports

In our continuous effort to enhance privacy, security, and transparency for our users, we at NordVPN are evolving our approach to how we communicate and report government inquiries and other legal requests. Historically, we've utilized a "warrant canary" as a method to inform our users about the...

nordvpn.com

https://vpnpro.com/wp-content/uploads/Infographic-VPNpro-97-VPN-products-run-by-just-23-companies.pdf

An Analysis of the Privacy and Security Risks of Android VPN Permission-enabled Apps

In practice, however, users have little if any guarantees about the corresponding security and privacy settings, and perhaps no practical knowledge about the entities accessing their mobile traffic.
In this paper we provide a first comprehensive analysis of 283 Android apps that use the Android VPN permission, which we extracted from a corpus of more than 1.4 million apps on the Google Play store.

https://research.csiro.au/isp/wp-content/uploads/sites/106/2016/08/paper-1.pdf

 

[L&LD]

@keefrto, here is a timely and interesting read on online 'security'. This is close to what I 'know', without knowing the details this distinguished law philosopher, Scott Shapiro, can discuss at length (indeed, he teaches classes on this topic).

(And a sidenote on the never-ending bugs in any code, and hence, the need to be continuously up-to-date as possible. The people that are continuously and constantly 'disgusted' with code that is 'not up to par' from their current tech provider/manufacturer just don't understand things at this deeper level).

The downcode (programs) is not the issue. The upcode is (human cognition and human behavior).

Is cybersecurity an unsolvable problem?

Ars chats with law philosopher Scott Shapiro about his new book, Fancy Bear Goes Phishing.

arstechnica.com

Turing himself showed that perfect cybersecurity is impossible through the proof that he gave. It's easy to extend the proof just to see that among the problems that cannot be solved are finding bugs in computer programs.

The second thing is to show why perfect cybersecurity is impossible because the very principles that make hacking possible are the ones that make general computing possible. So you can't get rid of one without the other because you cannot patch metacode.

 

[Smokey613]

I use a vpn service that provides me 2 dedicated business IPs. I use this service for geo location bypass so my wife can watch her favorite MLB team.

If I need to use a vpn away from home, I use a wireguard server running on a Firewalla Blue Plus on my fiber 100/100 service. This works real good.

 

[Tech9]

I have NordVPN account used for IP change and sometimes when I travel. VPN to home and VPN to my own server in another country. VPN to business servers is something obvious and widely used, but unrelated to the discussion here. I don't use any of the extra NordVPN features - basic account. Sometimes use it with SNB Forum to US server to see Amazon USA links posted. Otherwise I often see something unrelated redirected to Amazon Canada. It has some uses, but not much "security" and "privacy" related. I often say the users with all-network public VPN ideas only hurt themselves.

 

[keefrto]

@keefrto, here is a timely and interesting read on online 'security'. This is close to what I 'know', without knowing the details this distinguished law philosopher, Scott Shapiro, can discuss at length (indeed, he teaches classes on this topic).

(And a sidenote on the never-ending bugs in any code, and hence, the need to be continuously up-to-date as possible. The people that are continuously and constantly 'disgusted' with code that is 'not up to par' from their current tech provider/manufacturer just don't understand things at this deeper level).

The downcode (programs) is not the issue. The upcode is (human cognition and human behavior).

Is cybersecurity an unsolvable problem?

Ars chats with law philosopher Scott Shapiro about his new book, Fancy Bear Goes Phishing.

arstechnica.com

Just been watching F1 and will take some time this morning to read over what folks have posted, cheers

 

[keefrto]

The only correct behavior was and still is to use your own VPN server.
If your internet connection provides at least 15 Mbps upload, you can use the VPN server on your router even to watch FHD movies (~8Mbps).

Do you know who and for what purposes you share your data using commercial vpn?

ProtonMail logged IP address of French activist after order by Swiss authorities | TechCrunch

ProtonMail, a hosted email service with a focus on end-to-end encrypted communications, has been facing criticism after a police report showed that French

techcrunch.com

NordVPN introduces transparency reports

In our continuous effort to enhance privacy, security, and transparency for our users, we at NordVPN are evolving our approach to how we communicate and report government inquiries and other legal requests. Historically, we've utilized a "warrant canary" as a method to inform our users about the...

nordvpn.com

View attachment 50447

https://vpnpro.com/wp-content/uploads/Infographic-VPNpro-97-VPN-products-run-by-just-23-companies.pdf

An Analysis of the Privacy and Security Risks of Android VPN Permission-enabled Apps

https://research.csiro.au/isp/wp-content/uploads/sites/106/2016/08/paper-1.pdf

Will take a read this morning, cheers

 

[Tech9]

Updating your router's firmware may give you some "security". I know 386_49599 is one of the best firmware releases, but it's getting old.

 

[keefrto]

I just switched up to latest asus firmware for rt ax86u and newly purchased rt ax86s. So far all good