Depends who your adversary is... your ISP? Yes. Alphabet agencies? No.
Depends who your adversary is... your ISP? Yes. Alphabet agencies? No.
so no.
so no.
Locking your door will give you some security from low effort break-ins, but if someone really wants in your house it's not keeping them out. Using a VPN is locking your door.
Locking your door will give you some security from low effort break-ins, but if someone really wants in your house it's not keeping them out. Using a VPN is locking your door.
its not a matter of breaking in ( I assume your thinking like firewall ) I just dont think they keep anyone from knowing who you are. I personally think its a racket unless you want to fake out like a forum or something who banned you.
its not a matter of breaking in ( I assume your thinking like firewall ) I just dont think they keep anyone from knowing who you are. I personally think its a racket unless you want to fake out like a forum or something who banned you.
It's not a racket. ISPs sell your data, and their #1 customer is governments.
Yeah, sure, the NSA can figure it out, but do you think out of the millions of targets, you are going to get staff assigned to you?
VPNs protect you from your ISP, and let you get around geofencing. They also let you torrent without nasty legal threats from your ISP. Torrenting replaces netflix and all of that other "streaming" bullshit. Well worth it.
It's not a racket. ISPs sell your data, and their #1 customer is governments.
Yeah, sure, the NSA can figure it out, but do you think out of the millions of targets, you are going to get staff assigned to you?
VPNs protect you from your ISP, and let you get around geofencing. They also let you torrent without nasty legal threats from your ISP. Torrenting replaces netflix and all of that other "streaming" bullshit. Well worth it.
Well my isp is small and doesnt give a fuck, but the nsa records eveything and sure if there isnt a request nothing happens. But a vpn wont help you in that case and I think many think it will.
Well my isp is small and doesnt give a fuck, but the nsa records eveything and sure if there isnt a request nothing happens. But a vpn wont help you in that case and I think many think it will.
I just meant in a general sense of comparison of effectiveness and level of effort to get around. I didn't necessarily mean a VPN as a lock per se as a VPN and a firewall aren't the same.
A VPN routes your connection through an encrypted virtual tunnel. So who can see where you're really coming from depends on the encryption of the VPN.
Compare the encryption to a lock. If it's good even a good locksmith/hacker can't pick/crack your lock/encyption in a timeline that is realistically useful. But you don't necessity need to to get in. If I want in your house bad enough I can bash the door in or break window and fuck your lock.
The same is true with VPNs. If I'm trying to quietly Fifield out true traffic origin by cracking encyption and the encryption is good I'm gonna have a hard time. But if I really want to see you I can just use any number of ways to go directly into the VPN provider.
I just meant in a general sense of comparison of effectiveness and level of effort to get around. I didn't necessarily mean a VPN as a lock per se as a VPN and a firewall aren't the same.
A VPN routes your connection through an encrypted virtual tunnel. So who can see where you're really coming from depends on the encryption of the VPN.
Compare the encryption to a lock. If it's good even a good locksmith/hacker can't pick/crack your lock/encyption in a timeline that is realistically useful. But you don't necessity need to to get in. If I want in your house bad enough I can bash the door in or break window and fuck your lock.
The same is true with VPNs. If I'm trying to quietly Fifield out true traffic origin by cracking encyption and the encryption is good I'm gonna have a hard time. But if I really want to see you I can just use any number of ways to go directly into the VPN provider.
Which is racist as we learned.
Which is racist as we learned.
Good way to frame it
Good way to frame it
That's why I miss the good old dial up, you got a different IP address every time, I could change my number and make sure the modem was different if needs be. Ahhh the good old days.
That's why I miss the good old dial up, you got a different IP address every time, I could change my number and make sure the modem was different if needs be. Ahhh the good old days.
The good ol times when I started downloading stuff form file hosters and all I had to do is reconnect with a different IP to not wait 90 min for the next file.
The good ol times when I started downloading stuff form file hosters and all I had to do is reconnect with a different IP to not wait 90 min for the next file.
How would that help? I mean, from the ISPs perspective: A timestamp of dial, call length, your assigned IP and your phone number is all things known and was likely logged.
How would that help? I mean, from the ISPs perspective: A timestamp of dial, call length, your assigned IP and your phone number is all things known and was likely logged.
Tor is better for extremely sensitive things. VPNs are better for low-level illegality. Tor is very difficult for glowies to penetrate, your data is not encrypted at all but you are effectively anonymous. VPNs offer much better speeds and practicality, with useful features like split tunnelling, but you are putting all your eggs in one basket; and no VPN company cares about protecting your privacy more than protecting themselves from glowies. There are some VPN companies like Mullvad that seem to promise quite convincingly that they don't log anything (and they accept anonymous payment) so it's conceivable that even if they were raided they wouldn't be able to give up any information on customers. VPNs like Nord and Surfshark are just asking for trouble. Avoid any VPN that advertises aggressively.
My outlook is, use a good VPN with windows for things like streaming, torrenting etc. Use Tor on linux for sensitive things.
Tor is better for extremely sensitive things. VPNs are better for low-level illegality. Tor is very difficult for glowies to penetrate, your data is not encrypted at all but you are effectively anonymous. VPNs offer much better speeds and practicality, with useful features like split tunnelling, but you are putting all your eggs in one basket; and no VPN company cares about protecting your privacy more than protecting themselves from glowies. There are some VPN companies like Mullvad that seem to promise quite convincingly that they don't log anything (and they accept anonymous payment) so it's conceivable that even if they were raided they wouldn't be able to give up any information on customers. VPNs like Nord and Surfshark are just asking for trouble. Avoid any VPN that advertises aggressively.
My outlook is, use a good VPN with windows for things like streaming, torrenting etc. Use Tor on linux for sensitive things.
Tor work up until you control a certain number of exit nodes. After that you can be tracked on it.
You think the NSA doesnt have a F ton of the exit nodes in house?
Tor work up until you control a certain number of exit nodes.
After that you can be tracked on it.
You think the NSA doesnt have a F ton of the exit nodes in house?
VPNs are also ripe for honey pots. As it effectively groups all of your traffick into a single log.
Given the inability to audit providers it's very difficult to know if usage of a VPN is effectively doing anything aside from masking your origin IP from the destination.
VPNs are also ripe for honey pots. As it effectively groups all of your traffick into a single log.
Given the inability to audit providers it's very difficult to know if usage of a VPN is effectively doing anything aside from masking your origin IP from the destination.
Somewhat and against certain threats. It is a big topic. Generally it is oversold in my opinion.
If you use a VPN the VPN owner gets to analyze your traffic.
If you connect to Google by VPN, well they are still Google on the other side.
Somewhat and against certain threats. It is a big topic. Generally it is oversold in my opinion.
If you use a VPN the VPN owner gets to analyze your traffic.
If you connect to Google by VPN, well they are still Google on the other side.
no
no
Consider that cookies are old technology, and that organizations track your device's unique signature as you use the web. Servers in the middle are becoming increasingly irrelevant. I'm sure your home network plays into your signature, but if you use the same vpn outlet servers it would serve the same purpose.
Maybe a vpn is helpful, but it's far from reliable today.
Consider that cookies are old technology, and that organizations track your device's unique signature as you use the web. Servers in the middle are becoming increasingly irrelevant. I'm sure your home network plays into your signature, but if you use the same vpn outlet servers it would serve the same purpose.
Maybe a vpn is helpful, but it's far from reliable today.
Security is in layers, and VPN is only one layer you can have. Helps you be anonymous, sure. Makes you fully anonymous, fuck no.
Security is in layers, and VPN is only one layer you can have. Helps you be anonymous, sure. Makes you fully anonymous, fuck no.
I think that using a trusted DNS provider goes a long way. It's all encrypted so your ISP can only snoop the IP addresses.
I think that using a trusted DNS provider goes a long way. It's all encrypted so your ISP can only snoop the IP addresses.
Anonymity is only possible on someone else's network. Security in depth dictates that taking only the step of connecting to a VPN is insufficient, but it can't hurt being in the pipeline.
Anonymity is only possible on someone else's network. Security in depth dictates that taking only the step of connecting to a VPN is insufficient, but it can't hurt being in the pipeline.
Buy a second hand laptop or tablet or phone with CASH and without using your name or a vehicle. Ride public transport, wear a mask, or ride a bicycle (again wearing a mask). This all is NOT a guarantee of anonymity, but it will help. They (TPTB) have ways of identifying you by your gait, stature, and other things, but generally speaking a mask will help a lot.
Immediately after receiving the item, place it in a Faraday bag. Never take it out of the Faraday bag anywhere near any networks you frequent.
When using that device to publish things on the internet, use it on publicly accessible networks and never repeat the same network twice in a row. If you're a big enough criminal, they will see the MAC address of the device when it connects to a network and they could dispatch people to catch you. For example, if using a Starbucks network, don't sit inside the Starbucks. Maybe be next door or outside but hidden.
Also, make sure there's no record of you going to the network location.
REMEMBER: Some eBikes have WiFi, BlueTooth and/or GPS built in to them. If you use an eBike (which I would recommend for their convenience and getaway potential), make sure it has no network or GPS connectivity.
Other than taking physical measures to ensure your anonymity, you have none.
Buy a second hand laptop or tablet or phone with CASH and without using your name or a vehicle. Ride public transport, wear a mask, or ride a bicycle (again wearing a mask). This all is NOT a guarantee of anonymity, but it will help. They (TPTB) have ways of identifying you by your gait, stature, and other things, but generally speaking a mask will help a lot.
Immediately after receiving the item, place it in a Faraday bag. Never take it out of the Faraday bag anywhere near any networks you frequent.
When using that device to publish things on the internet, use it on publicly accessible networks and never repeat the same network twice in a row. If you're a big enough criminal, they will see the MAC address of the device when it connects to a network and they could dispatch people to catch you. For example, if using a Starbucks network, don't sit inside the Starbucks. Maybe be next door or outside but hidden.
Also, make sure there's no record of you going to the network location.
REMEMBER: Some eBikes have WiFi, BlueTooth and/or GPS built in to them. If you use an eBike (which I would recommend for their convenience and getaway potential), make sure it has no network or GPS connectivity.
Other than taking physical measures to ensure your anonymity, you have none.
Kind of. Using a laptop with a VPN and on a Wifi connection that never connected to your own network is pretty cool. Just don't use that to connect to your gmails and all other shit with same accounts, you're good to go. Enjoy.
Kind of.
Using a laptop with a VPN and on a Wifi connection that never connected to your own network is pretty cool. Just don't use that to connect to your gmails and all other shit with same accounts, you're good to go. Enjoy.
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