Australian Politics Forum - VPNs ...... The PROs & CONs

Panther

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VPNs ...... The PROs & CONs
Jan 14^th, 2016 at 9:25am

In this day & age where privacy issues, spying by the government, & logging of every bit of your internet usage by your ISP can negatively impact on your daily comings & goings, can VPNs be a benefit? How?

Your personal experiences:

♦ Do you use them?

♦ What are the PROs & CONs?

♦ Which ones are the best & why?

♦ Which ones are the worst & why?

♦ Which ones say they don't keep logs....& which ones lie?

♦ What are DNS leaks?

♦ Anything else you can think of about VPNs that might be interesting to our community?

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« Last Edit: Jan 14^th, 2016 at 9:52am by Panther »

"When the People fear government there is Tyranny;
When government fears the People there is Freedom & Liberty!"

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tickleandrose Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 4201 Gender:	Re: VPNs ...... The PROs & CONs Reply #1 - Jan 14^th, 2016 at 11:25am use newipnow.com to spy on facebook. otherwise vpns are not that usefully, unless you do alot of movie downloading.
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Super Nova

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Re: VPNs ...... The PROs & CONs
Reply #2 - Jan 14^th, 2016 at 4:33pm

Your personal experiences:

♦ Do you use them? Yes
1. I use them for business to access with a high degree of security internal work systems.
2. I use a VPN to get around country restrictions on blocked sites because the country I am in has restrictions. It is encrypted and harder to for the country ISP monitors to block. Also use it to use applications that are restricted like Skype because they want the telcos to collect as much revenue via the traditional phone system.
3. I use another to pretend to be in the UK so I can watch UK TV over the internet, this is to fool the BBC.

A key reason to use on beyond the above is VPNs normally have a high degree of encryption. Makes it hard for the spooks.

♦ What are the PROs & CONs?
Pros - security, making you point of presence be somewhere else.
Cons - costs, can be slower because you are funneled to the VPN and the servers providing this access.

For normal internet things, like posting this post I don't bother.

♦ Which ones are the best & why? - Cannot answer that. Horses for courses.

♦ Which ones are the worst & why? -NFI

♦ Which ones say they don't keep logs....& which ones lie?

They all lie.

♦ What are DNS leaks? - see below - a quick google will give you more.

What is a "DNS leaks"?

In this context, with "DNS leak" we mean an unencrypted DNS query sent by your system OUTSIDE the established VPN tunnel.

Why my system suffers DNS leaks?

In brief: Windows lacks the concept of global DNS. Each network interface can have its own DNS. Under various circumstances, the system process svchost.exe will send out DNS queries without respecting the routing table and the default gateway of the VPN tunnel, causing the leak.

Should I be worried for a DNS leak?

If you don't want that your ISP, and anybody with the ability to monitor your line, knows the names your system tries to resolve (so the web sites you visit etc.) you must prevent your system to leak DNS. If you feel that you're living in a human rights hostile country, or in any way the above mentioned knowledge may harm you, you should act immediately to stop DNS leaks.

♦ Anything else you can think of about VPNs that might be interesting to our community? Smiley

I think if you have nothing to hide you don't really need them these days. If you need to be secure in your access to a business system, they are worthwhile. If you need to work around restrictions of an internet hostile country.... they are a must.

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Panther

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Re: VPNs ...... The PROs & CONs
Reply #3 - Jan 28^th, 2016 at 9:37am

Super Nova wrote on Jan 14^th, 2016 at 4:33pm:

Your personal experiences:

♦ Do you use them? Yes
1. I use them for business to access with a high degree of security internal work systems.
2. I use a VPN to get around country restrictions on blocked sites because the country I am in has restrictions. It is encrypted and harder to for the country ISP monitors to block. Also use it to use applications that are restricted like Skype because they want the telcos to collect as much revenue via the traditional phone system.
3. I use another to pretend to be in the UK so I can watch UK TV over the internet, this is to fool the BBC.

A key reason to use on beyond the above is VPNs normally have a high degree of encryption. Makes it hard for the spooks.

♦ What are the PROs & CONs?
Pros - security, making you point of presence be somewhere else.
Cons - costs, can be slower because you are funneled to the VPN and the servers providing this access.

For normal internet things, like posting this post I don't bother.

♦ Which ones are the best & why? - Cannot answer that. Horses for courses.

♦ Which ones are the worst & why? -Absolutely No Idea

♦ Which ones say they don't keep logs....& which ones lie?

They all lie.

♦ What are DNS leaks? - see below - a quick google will give you more.

What is a "DNS leaks"?

In this context, with "DNS leak" we mean an unencrypted DNS query sent by your system OUTSIDE the established VPN tunnel.

Why my system suffers DNS leaks?

In brief: Windows lacks the concept of global DNS. Each network interface can have its own DNS. Under various circumstances, the system process svchost.exe will send out DNS queries without respecting the routing table and the default gateway of the VPN tunnel, causing the leak.

Should I be worried for a DNS leak?

If you don't want that your ISP, and anybody with the ability to monitor your line, knows the names your system tries to resolve (so the web sites you visit etc.) you must prevent your system to leak DNS. If you feel that you're living in a human rights hostile country, or in any way the above mentioned knowledge may harm you, you should act immediately to stop DNS leaks.

♦ Anything else you can think of about VPNs that might be interesting to our community? Smiley

I think if you have nothing to hide you don't really need them these days. If you need to be secure in your access to a business system, they are worthwhile. If you need to work around restrictions of an internet hostile country.... they are a must.

Or maybe the government passes a law to retain all your data for 2 years, & you don't think their invasions on your 'privacy' is acceptable.....VPNs can help combat these 'invasions'.

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« Last Edit: Jan 28^th, 2016 at 9:46am by Panther »

"When the People fear government there is Tyranny;
When government fears the People there is Freedom & Liberty!"

'
Live FREE or DIE!
'

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Dnarever

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Re: VPNs ...... The PROs & CONs
Reply #4 - Jan 28^th, 2016 at 10:25am

Panther wrote on Jan 28^th, 2016 at 9:37am:

Super Nova wrote on Jan 14^th, 2016 at 4:33pm:

Your personal experiences:

♦ Do you use them? Yes
1. I use them for business to access with a high degree of security internal work systems.
2. I use a VPN to get around country restrictions on blocked sites because the country I am in has restrictions. It is encrypted and harder to for the country ISP monitors to block. Also use it to use applications that are restricted like Skype because they want the telcos to collect as much revenue via the traditional phone system.
3. I use another to pretend to be in the UK so I can watch UK TV over the internet, this is to fool the BBC.

A key reason to use on beyond the above is VPNs normally have a high degree of encryption. Makes it hard for the spooks.

♦ What are the PROs & CONs?
Pros - security, making you point of presence be somewhere else.
Cons - costs, can be slower because you are funneled to the VPN and the servers providing this access.

For normal internet things, like posting this post I don't bother.

♦ Which ones are the best & why? - Cannot answer that. Horses for courses.

♦ Which ones are the worst & why? -Absolutely No Idea

♦ Which ones say they don't keep logs....& which ones lie?

They all lie.

♦ What are DNS leaks? - see below - a quick google will give you more.

What is a "DNS leaks"?

In this context, with "DNS leak" we mean an unencrypted DNS query sent by your system OUTSIDE the established VPN tunnel.

Why my system suffers DNS leaks?

In brief: Windows lacks the concept of global DNS. Each network interface can have its own DNS. Under various circumstances, the system process svchost.exe will send out DNS queries without respecting the routing table and the default gateway of the VPN tunnel, causing the leak.

Should I be worried for a DNS leak?

If you don't want that your ISP, and anybody with the ability to monitor your line, knows the names your system tries to resolve (so the web sites you visit etc.) you must prevent your system to leak DNS. If you feel that you're living in a human rights hostile country, or in any way the above mentioned knowledge may harm you, you should act immediately to stop DNS leaks.

♦ Anything else you can think of about VPNs that might be interesting to our community? Smiley

I think if you have nothing to hide you don't really need them these days. If you need to be secure in your access to a business system, they are worthwhile. If you need to work around restrictions of an internet hostile country.... they are a must.

Or maybe the government passes a law to retain all your data for 2 years, & you don't think their invasions on your 'privacy' is acceptable.....VPNs can help combat these 'invasions'.

A Properly implemented data collection system would not be impacted by a VPN.

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MumboJumbo

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Re: VPNs ...... The PROs & CONs
Reply #5 - Jan 28^th, 2016 at 3:45pm

Dnarever wrote on Jan 28^th, 2016 at 10:25am:

A Properly implemented data collection system would not be impacted by a VPN.

Sure it would. Assuming there's no spyware on your computer, all "Big Brother" would know is that you use a VPN, and which one. They wouldn't know what you're accessing through the VPN, unless they want to decrypt all of your traffic (and then you're farked anyway).

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See Profile For Update wrote on Jan 3^rd, 2015 at 2:58pm:

Why the bugger did I get stuck on a planet chalked full of imbeciles?

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Dnarever

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Re: VPNs ...... The PROs & CONs
Reply #6 - Jan 28^th, 2016 at 4:29pm

MumboJumbo wrote on Jan 28^th, 2016 at 3:45pm:

Dnarever wrote on Jan 28^th, 2016 at 10:25am:

A Properly implemented data collection system would not be impacted by a VPN.

Sure it would. Assuming there's no spyware on your computer, all "Big Brother" would know is that you use a VPN, and which one. They wouldn't know what you're accessing through the VPN, unless they want to decrypt all of your traffic (and then you're farked anyway).

Not true, there are systems that allow VPN traffic to be monitored at either the corporate position or at the ISP. This technology has been around for at least 8 years.

An example of how it functions at a business would be implemented with either the firewall or proxy server etc and at the ISP in similar position.

What happens is the equipment will detect the intention to set up a VPN and facilitate the transaction itself. There will be a VPN set up between the ISP and the customer on the incoming side then a second VPN between the ISP and the other end on the outgoing side. in between the two VPN's the data is transparent and unencrypted.

To the user the appearance is that their VPN has been properly established. I have trialled this system in a corporate environment - it works very well.

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MumboJumbo

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Re: VPNs ...... The PROs & CONs
Reply #7 - Jan 28^th, 2016 at 11:35pm

Dnarever wrote on Jan 28^th, 2016 at 4:29pm:

What happens is the equipment will detect the intention to set up a VPN and facilitate the transaction itself. There will be a VPN set up between the ISP and the customer on the incoming side then a second VPN between the ISP and the other end on the outgoing side. in between the two VPN's the data is transparent and unencrypted.

Oh, the man-in-the-middle attack. I'd forgotten about that.

Just thinking aloud (so to speak) -- wouldn't it then be defeated by using a different protocol to set up the VPN? Or SSH tunneling, or some similar technology?

Also, the website shields up has a service to detect if your https connection is man-in-the-middle attacked, maybe it would work for vpns too?

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See Profile For Update wrote on Jan 3^rd, 2015 at 2:58pm:

Why the bugger did I get stuck on a planet chalked full of imbeciles?

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Its time

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Re: VPNs ...... The PROs & CONs
Reply #8 - Jan 30^th, 2016 at 11:19pm

MumboJumbo wrote on Jan 28^th, 2016 at 3:45pm:

Dnarever wrote on Jan 28^th, 2016 at 10:25am:

A Properly implemented data collection system would not be impacted by a VPN.

Sure it would. Assuming there's no spyware on your computer, all "Big Brother" would know is that you use a VPN, and which one. They wouldn't know what you're accessing through the VPN, unless they want to decrypt all of your traffic (and then you're farked anyway).

Better not tell the terrorists Roll Eyes

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Dnarever

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Re: VPNs ...... The PROs & CONs
Reply #9 - Jan 31^st, 2016 at 7:50am

MumboJumbo wrote on Jan 28^th, 2016 at 11:35pm:

Dnarever wrote on Jan 28^th, 2016 at 4:29pm:

What happens is the equipment will detect the intention to set up a VPN and facilitate the transaction itself. There will be a VPN set up between the ISP and the customer on the incoming side then a second VPN between the ISP and the other end on the outgoing side. in between the two VPN's the data is transparent and unencrypted.

Oh, the man-in-the-middle attack. I'd forgotten about that.

Just thinking aloud (so to speak) -- wouldn't it then be defeated by using a different protocol to set up the VPN? Or SSH tunneling, or some similar technology?

Also, the website shields up has a service to detect if your https connection is man-in-the-middle attacked, maybe it would work for vpns too?

Oh, the man-in-the-middle attack.

In this case its a government in the middle attack and it would apply to SSH in the same way unless you ran a local SSH server but the data would still be coming from your link and encryption that the government can not decrypt is not allowed.

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