Post: #1

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Since I've lived in Asia, specifically Thailand/Korea/China, I've had to get around internet censorship in one form or another (especially in China) to surf blocked sites and social networks.

Thus, the original reason I began using VPNs was mainly to get access to sites I couldn't otherwise access.

I've heard, however, that VPNs also provide some level of security as well.

Is anyone using VPNs specifically for security reasons?

VPNs definitely slow my computer speed down but if it'll help protect against hackers and improve privacy then it's worth it IMO.

How do VPNs keep you safe or protected?

How do they NOT keep you safe or protected?

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Post: #2

Not an expert but from what i understand you want one that doesn't keep logs. Here is a list of VPN service providers supposedly take anonymity seriously.

http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-tha...on-130302/

Another good site for more information

http://security.stackexchange.com/questi...ho-you-are

Also, have you looked into Tor Project? Here is a link to there Tor Browser:

https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en


If you decide to download the Tor Browser...

A) Always check a couple times per day for new versions of the Tor Browser Bundle. Also, create a new folder to install it in..**DO NOT INSTALL TO THE SAME FOLDER, DO NOT OVERWRITE THE FILES!**

Now, once you've done that click the S then click "options" Therein you will see some tabs in the popup box. Click "Embeddings" and check "Forbid Java" "Forbid Adobe Flash" "Forbid other Plugins" "Forbid IFRAME"
Then Click "Ok"

C) Once you have done this go to the Top Left and you will see an Orange button with the words "TorBrowser"
Click "Options" then click "Content" Now, therein you will see a box next to "Enable Javascript" UNCHECK that Box. Then Click "Ok"

D) Also...Don't Forget to Click the "Forbid Scripts Globally" after clicking on the S

The rest....Do Not mess with....this is a relatively simple thing to do.

Passing traffic to Tor is encrypted….but once it leaves a Tor relay it is sent in plaintext. Thus, the reason to VPN through Tor


Not sure if this helps. I am no expert by far. Maybe somebody with more technical knowledge can chime in.

Post: #3

If the FBI wants to, they can track you

Post: #4

Tor Browser is free? Will that get me into Netflix if I'm in Southeast Asia?

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #5

Can you elaborate? Has the FBI found a way to break encryption (256-bit AES or PGP encryption)? If so, please share how this is done.

Post: #6

(11-10-2013 03:38 AM)Hitman Wrote:  Can you elaborate? Has the FBI found a way to break encryption (256-bit AES or PGP encryption)? If so, please share how this is done.

I remember reading about it. The FBI cracked it to hunt down pedophiles

Post: #7

@ Beyond Borders,

You can see it by using tor stall firefox browser and add tor button and then install tor software to access the video. Remember to enable flash before watching. But a proxy, especially through TOR, wouldn't net you the speed to watch a netflix movie.

TOR is designed for maximum anonymity for when you absolutely don't want to be tracked at all, which makes it much slower. TOR is for things like leaking documents to Wikileaks, not watching videos.

Maybe try having a paid Proxy with a dedicated US IP.

As for TOR Onion Routing...You do not want to use this for high speed transfers, tor is generally a VERY slow service. Netflix requires a fast internet connection for the video to play decently.

Help Key: Watch Netflix from outside the U.S.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/31/help-ke...e-the-u-s/

Use Tor to easily switch between Netflix libraries:

http://www.markledden.com/blog/use-tor-t...libraries/

Does this help?

Post: #8

Quote:I remember reading about it. The FBI cracked it to hunt down pedophiles

That's pretty big news. Are you sure it wasn't an exploit in vulnerability in the Firefox browser (Firefox 17)? Would like to hear more on this. Are you sure this wasn't just a back door like in the Microsoft Windows OS?

Surveillance teams routinely read PGP-encrypted email. I agree, but that's because most people aren't using PGP correctly.

Here is an article on the FBI's failed attempt to crack trucrypt.

http://news.techworld.com/security/3228701/

But again, I am no expert. Would love to hear what the experts say.

Post: #9

I just a VPN in internet cafes when doing sensitive work to prevent packet sniffers. It's supposed to help against that.

Post: #10

What happens normally:

PC >>>unencrypted connection >>> ISP >>> unencrypted connection >>> http://www.example.website

With VPN:

PC >>> encrypted connection >>> ISP >>> encrypted connection >>> VPN server >>> unencrypted connection >>> http://www.example.website

VPNs ensures that your connection is encrypted up to the VPN server. It depends whether or not the website you are visiting uses encryption (https:// vs http://) if the last leg of the journey is also going to be encrypted. Any website you visit only sees your VPN's ip, not yours. If your connection is encrypted, it cannot be eavesdropped on.

The quality of the VPN provider matters as well as simply having one. Experience has shown that providers have different levels of loyalty towards guarding their customer's privacy vs making money. Some (like the ones Wikileaks uses) are strategically designed to leverage the international legal system to the maximum extent possible to shield their users. Others will fold and hand over data fairly compliantly because they do not want to take on the cost and burden of a costly legal process.

Post: #11

(11-10-2013 04:05 AM)Hitman Wrote:  

Quote:I remember reading about it. The FBI cracked it to hunt down pedophiles

That's pretty big news. Are you sure it wasn't an exploit in vulnerability in the Firefox browser (Firefox 17)? Would like to hear more on this. Are you sure this wasn't just a back door like in the Microsoft Windows OS?

Surveillance teams routinely read PGP-encrypted email. I agree, but that's because most people aren't using PGP correctly.

Here is an article on the FBI's failed attempt to crack trucrypt.

http://news.techworld.com/security/3228701/

But again, I am no expert. Would love to hear what the experts say.

You are correct. The FBI did not crack the encryption used by Tor. Strong encryption like PGP or those used in VPNs cannot be "cracked" yet. Government agencies and clever hackers get around this through various overlooked holes. The encryption itself is rock solid.

For example, you can encrypt you traffic through a VPN which will protect your data from hackers while at a place like the local coffee shop. Your traffic is encrypted all the way up to the VPN server and is then exposed once it leaves that server on it's way to the rest of the internet. The NSA uses this to it's advantage by sniffing traffic as close to it's destination as possible. For example they installed traffic monitoring equipment inside an ISP not too far from Google HQ. This allows them to filter out the majority of the internet traffic which wasn't meant for Google servers.

This kind of data monitoring is not available to your run-of-the-mill hacker. A VPN is a very good protective measure in this case. If you're looking to stay anonymous online I recommend using Tor and using a wifi connection that doesn't belong to you like a coffee shop. You can also check out this site VPN Gate. It provides completely free VPNs provided by volunteers and researchers. There is no sign-up or payment involved which increases anonymity. This combined with Tor could make for a pretty decent protective layer.

Post: #12

Read this:

http://www.cotse.net/vpn-info.html

A couple of comments:

1. Do not use a VPN that claims "not to keep logs". If they say this, they're lying and if they're lying why should you trust them on anything else?

Instead, use a VPN that keeps logs (they all do) and turns them over regularly. There are a few good ones.

2. The basic reason to use a VPN is to prevent the websites you're visiting from seeing your IP address and therefore, basically, knowing who and where you are.

The thing you have to worry about with VPN is dropped connections. If the VPN connection is dropped for some reason there is nothing to prevent traffic from being routed normally, thereby making your IP address visible. I found that with the VPN I'm using I'd get dropped connections unless I set my computer power settings to "never sleep". Otherwise if it goes to sleep it will eventually drop my VPN connection, exposing my IP.

Post: #13

5 Best logless VPNs

https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/4057/best-logless-vpn/

So these VPN services are lying? Have you seen their actual infrastructure/code? What if they are located in a country with no data retention laws? My rule of thumb is to assume they are all keeping logs but to say this out right would assume I had some type of inside knowledge.

Interested in how you are absolutely positive with no sources listed. Not saying you are not correct but I need more than 'because i say so'.

Thanks for the information though. You obviously have more knowledge than the average user.

Post: #14

(11-10-2013 10:39 PM)Hitman Wrote:  5 Best logless VPNs

https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/4057/best-logless-vpn/

So these VPN services are lying? Have you seen their actual infrastructure/code? What if they are located in a country with no data retention laws? My rule of thumb is to assume they are all keeping logs but to say this out right would assume I had some type of inside knowledge.

Interested in how you are absolutely positive with no sources listed. Not saying you are not correct but I need more than 'because i say so'.

Thanks for the information though. You obviously have more knowledge than the average user.

Read this:

http://www.cotse.net/logging.html

By the way, cotse is pretty much the gold standard as far as this stuff goes. They know whereof they speak and they have enough of a rep and have been around for enough time to level with their customers.

Post: #15

Relevant paragraphs from the cotse site above:

Quote:No Logging

"No Logging! We don't even know what you do while using us." Another big marketing claim.

Think about this, if you just used stolen credit cards everywhere for everything you could order, and you spread viruses, and spammed mail and/or guestbooks, and initiated denial of service attacks against the FBI, and sent bomb threats to the secret service, and tried to hack into the pentagon, and tried to solicit the young daughters of FBI agents for sex, or did any of the myriad of other things that would cause pressure to stop it, how long do you think you would stay online? A month? You'd probably be taken off line in less time than that. Privacy services have the same issue.

Nobody can just allow anything and everything. Everyone has to have some control. Everyone must prevent abuse to stay online. To keep their internet connections and to stay financially solvent (you'll go broke letting people pay with stolen credit cards and forged money orders). So, everyone must make sure that their service doesn't become a haven thieves and abusers.

How does everyone handle it? Rules and account termination for violating those rules. They tell you so in their terms of service (don't do this, don't do that, or risk account term). Just the fact that they can prove you broke those rules after the fact means they are logging something. They can prove what you did after you did it. Really anonymous without any records would mean you could send continuous threats to fire missles at incoming planes to the FAA and never get caught nor would they even know what account to terminate for doing it no matter how hard they looked.

Besides all this, there are many things on a server that log. Account payment records and updates - everyone has to log those, what good is a service that doesn't know who paid for what and for how long. Plus server process and programs log when they start and stop. Errors are also logged. Error logs are critical to providing a reliable service and troubleshooting problems. Intrusion detection systems and firewalls log (an unsecured machine cannot even provide privacy, so they better have these and their logs). Many things keep logs.

I guess those that claim no logs really mean "No logs...except for these...oh and these...oh and those too...but they don't really count, what's important is that we don't log your datastream". We really do understand that they are using this term "no logs" to mean only the data stream. They don't log the data stream and probably not your ip when using the proxy (it's theirs or 127.0.0.1).

We don't log the datastream either and your IP in our SSH tunnels accessing the proxies is 127.0.0.1 and comes out as ours (these are standard setups and nobody is doing something special that others can't), but there are many other things that log on a system and to just ignore them all and say "No logs" is lying.

Post: #16

have we forgotten who created the internet??

Post: #17

(11-12-2013 12:58 AM)elabayarde Wrote:  have we forgotten who created the internet??

You mean Al Gore?