Poll of the Day > What even is a VPN?

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THEGODDAMNBATMA
01/10/20 3:59:20 PM
#1:


Do you actually need one? Seems expensive.
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Ogurisama
01/10/20 4:04:15 PM
#2:


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shipwreckers
01/10/20 4:13:52 PM
#3:


A way for you to get away with crime (but not really, because the VPN provider still tracks your activity, for law enforcement to sieze at any time).

Pay up, pirate!

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Smarkil
01/10/20 4:18:21 PM
#4:


shipwreckers posted...
A way for you to get away with crime (but not really, because the VPN provider still tracks your activity, for law enforcement to sieze at any time).

Depends on the VPN provider. Some explicitly advertise as no record keeping and/or are in countries that don't work with the FBI.

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OniRonin
01/10/20 4:34:02 PM
#5:


A VPN isextremely useful and usually more cost effective than additional computers. A VPN provides several privacy advantages :
* Deep packet inspection helps snoopers uncover what you are really doing on the internet
* Flagging processes with packets leaks your activity to prying eyes
* Anonymity : Your ISP/internet service provider cannot see your activity, but using a VPN prevents them from spying on you
* Channels : Many prying eyes, especially intelligence agencies, spend their time snooping on "alternative channels" like Facebook, Twitter, BBSs and message boards. This is one of the reasons why various governments have bad experience with technology, being unable to control their own stalker status.

In most cases, you want to send your data only through channels that are secure such as VPN

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Judgmenl
01/10/20 4:38:47 PM
#6:


A VPN means that you go through someone else's network to access some ip address. E.g. I use my work's VPN to access the internal office network. Think of it like a virtual bridge between you and your destination.

OniRonin posted...
A VPN isextremely useful and usually more cost effective than additional computers. A VPN provides several privacy advantages :
* Deep packet inspection helps snoopers uncover what you are really doing on the internet
* Flagging processes with packets leaks your activity to prying eyes
* Anonymity : Your ISP/internet service provider cannot see your activity, but using a VPN prevents them from spying on you
* Channels : Many prying eyes, especially intelligence agencies, spend their time snooping on "alternative channels" like Facebook, Twitter, BBSs and message boards. This is one of the reasons why various governments have bad experience with technology, being unable to control their own stalker status.

It literally offers none of those things. Your VPN provider can easily act as a MitM and snoop on you. I bet you just read these bullet points online.
I've actually written software that does deep packet inspection.

All VPNs provide is another bump in the wire between you and your destination. Hell, they're more danagerous because they provide additional hops where someone could collect your data.

Some time you should connect to your vpn and do a traceroute of whatever address you are trying to access. The results will be surprising.

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OniRonin
01/10/20 5:10:06 PM
#7:


I've actually written software that does deep packet inspection.

Then you'll know that anyone can and does abuse a VPN, of course!

The way I do "Deep Packet Inspection" (I HATE the word, but I think it describes what I do better) is to have an engineer monitor a LAN network for ports with connections into the VPN. They will scan the IPv4 space to find all of the instances of the two common VPN protocols: OpenVPN and PPTP. I see a lot of many IP addresses from these services going into the VPN. If it is a local application, I can connect to it. If it is a VPN application, I have to put it into the VPN. I will then monitor my own bandwidth over the VPN to see what is going into the VPN. This is very similar to reading a ping packet. We are using Windows and are watching the sending and receiving end of the VPN connection.

Judgmenl posted...
All VPNs provide is another bump in the wire between you and your destination

This is, at best, extremely misleadin. What exactly do they provide ? Are they providing "another bump in the wire" or something even better ? An email from a friend or a phone call? Are they providing it at an independent location or are they providing it on their own website or somehow sending you a direct link to it ? Have they fully invested in the technology , or is it totally lacking and probably intentionally so? These are the questions to ask oneself about a particular VPN service.

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Zareth
01/10/20 5:44:33 PM
#8:


You need Express VPN to stop the hackers from stealing your Casper matress or all the kids in Raid Shadow Legends will laugh at you and your shitty razor from Dollar Shave Club.

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davrick
01/10/20 6:23:45 PM
#9:


shipwreckers posted...
A way for you to get away with crime (but not really, because the VPN provider still tracks your activity, for law enforcement to sieze at any time).

I feel safe with NordVPN. They don't keep any logs, so law enforcement cannot seize data that does not exist. They also have a double VPN feature that doubles data encryption for extra security, plus they even accept bitcoins for anonymous payment. I heard that ExpressVPN is a good choice too, but NordVPN is cheaper. If you buy the 3 year subscription, it ends up costing only $3.49 a month:

https://join.nordvpn.com/order/

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Judgmenl
01/10/20 6:27:05 PM
#10:


Based honeypot shilling.

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You're a regular Jack Kerouac
I'm a Senior Software Engineer. No I don't write TPS reports, this isn't Office Space.
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