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NordVPN sued by Torguard for blackmail [pdf]

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Re: NordVPN sued by Torguard for blackmail [pdf]

#151

Post by [deleted] »

BanazirGalbasi wrote: post #146
krn wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So basically, he's providing proof that he created a year ago. I was able fact-check his claims, since I am from the city where Tesonet is based, and found none of them to be completely false or baseless. It turned out to be an open secret in the local tech community[1]. [1] https://i0.wp.com/vpnscam.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/201...

From what I remember, that PDF was also created by the same guy and shared on several sites. ProtonVPN at least came forward with a chain of evidence for why there would be a connection, even a weak one, but I don't recall NordVPN saying much at the time. Still, the fact that the co-founder of a VPN company is trying to dig up dirt on other VPN companies doesn't make me trust his at all, it just seems shady.

[deleted]

Re: NordVPN sued by Torguard for blackmail [pdf]

#152

Post by cyberpunk »

Tomspark wrote: post #149
cyberpunk wrote: post #10

Had a quick skim; it seems at a glance like someone from TorGuard badmouthed NordVPN on a youtube comment ( sigh ), so NordVPN apparently in response threatened to disclose "trade secret information obtained by NordVPN regarding TorGuard’s systems" it obtained via a hosting provider TorGuard used which is owned by the NordVPN people. This apparently involved some pretty sketchy stuff like sending people to the house…

It's not a YouTube comment. It's my entire channel. They want me to remove NordVPN videos like this one: https://youtu.be/xxwvAjmNec8

The plot thickens..

I mean... How are you involved? Why would NordVPN allegedly blackmail TorGuard to get you to stop posting negative things? What leverage does TorGuard have over you?

Re: NordVPN sued by Torguard for blackmail [pdf]

#153

Post by 01CGAT »

jimbokun wrote: post #58
kadoban wrote: post #13

NordVPN is by far the shittiest VPN service I have ever used. They billed me twice, two months in a row, and getting them to fix it was like pulling teeth. This is not to mention the hard time I had actually using the service, between random inability to connect and outages. They have ISP-level arrogance, without the lock-in. I have no idea how they're still in business. So I'd be very inclined towards believing this…

Can anyone recommend another VPN provider, than Nord or Torguard? Main use case is for using public WiFi when travelling.

I would recommend my own company, based in the Netherlands: WifiMask.com.

A VPN with a focus on WiFi protection. MacOS and iOS only for now, I'm working on Android and Windows too. Send me an email for a test account if you'd like to try it out: support@wifimask.com

Re: NordVPN sued by Torguard for blackmail [pdf]

#154

Post by krn »

BanazirGalbasi wrote: post #146
krn wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So basically, he's providing proof that he created a year ago. I was able fact-check his claims, since I am from the city where Tesonet is based, and found none of them to be completely false or baseless. It turned out to be an open secret in the local tech community[1]. [1] https://i0.wp.com/vpnscam.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/201...

From what I remember, that PDF was also created by the same guy and shared on several sites. ProtonVPN at least came forward with a chain of evidence for why there would be a connection, even a weak one, but I don't recall NordVPN saying much at the time. Still, the fact that the co-founder of a VPN company is trying to dig up dirt on other VPN companies doesn't make me trust his at all, it just seems shady.

> Still, the fact that the co-founder of a VPN company is trying to dig up dirt on other VPN companies doesn't make me trust his at all, it just seems shady.

I think it's a normal practice in every industry to try to find out who your competitors really are. Whether that information should be made public or not is a different question, but it doesn't make it inherently false. Instead of naively believing in carefully crafted rebuttals, people should try to verify the facts by themselves.

Re: NordVPN sued by Torguard for blackmail [pdf]

#155

Post by temptemptemp111 »

safeplanet-fesa wrote: post #103

I used to be one using and praising ProtonMail, but after the Tesonet scandal turned me around. The worst evidence for me was their responses, how they were constantly calling it a "smear campaign by PIA", often not providing any plausible explanations. Duh, PIA published it and put work into raising public awareness. They are competitors, they found your dirty laundry and published it, duuuuh. Whoever discovered it,…

I'm skeptical of NordVPN too - but can you say a little about why you signed up just to make these comments? ProtonMail is suspect as well. I would like to see independent analysis of their mobile and desktop clients - at least we can verify that they aren't doing anything besides data-mining/not deleting logs.

The problem with running your own VPN is that paying for a VPS is not typically more private than paying for a VPN. And the functionality that NordVPN et al provides would take a lot of effort to reproduce manually. You'd have to have a VPS with lots of locations and launch your VPN OS image in the location you want - which would take extra time & effort each time.

Re: NordVPN sued by Torguard for blackmail [pdf]

#156

Post by protonmail »

trymas wrote: post #121
safeplanet-fesa wrote: post #75

NordVPN is one of the ugliest in the on its own shady VPN business. They did their best to slowly make the Tesonet scandal slide away. Here on HN some users provided extensive insights about their connections with the Lithuanian data mining company and convincingly demonstrated that NordVPN must be the most evil VPN honeypot and deceiver.

Can you tell more about what is the "Tesonet scandal"? I've heard such shady stuff about NordVPN that I would never trust them with their data, also would never trust any other VPN provider. EDIT: I thing I've found it: https://restoreprivacy.com/lawsuit-names-nordvpn-tesonet/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17258203 I was informed before not to use NordVPN for their (anecdotal) shady practices, but the fact tha…

ProtonMail is not involved and the story is really bogus. Proton happens to have an office in Lithuania (one of 6 globally) and was dragged in as a result, but otherwise there is no real connection as explained here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonVPN/comments/8ww4h2/protonvpn...

ProtonVPN in particular has been vetted by third parties such as Mozilla, and is operated very transparently as outlined here: https://protonvpn.com/blog/is-protonvpn-trustworthy/

The location of Proton offices for example, has always been publicly disclosed, the directors of the Swiss parent company Proton Technologies AG, and the company's CERN roots, etc, are all in public record.

Re: NordVPN sued by Torguard for blackmail [pdf]

#157

Post by protonmail »

safeplanet-fesa wrote: post #103

I used to be one using and praising ProtonMail, but after the Tesonet scandal turned me around. The worst evidence for me was their responses, how they were constantly calling it a "smear campaign by PIA", often not providing any plausible explanations. Duh, PIA published it and put work into raising public awareness. They are competitors, they found your dirty laundry and published it, duuuuh. Whoever discovered it,…

Not sure if you saw it, but Proton published a response here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonVPN/comments/8ww4h2/protonvpn...

The fact that hundreds of Twitter bots were used to spread the allegations is rather strong evidence that there was indeed a smear campaign. Details about this here: https://protonvpn.com/blog/is-protonvpn-trustworthy/

Re: NordVPN sued by Torguard for blackmail [pdf]

#158

Post by elijahwright »

Tomspark wrote: post #138
knd775 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you pay bi-yearly, PIA is ~$40. A bit more, but it's still faster and has better apps.

False. $268.65 3 months free3 + $83.87 per two years. PIA is $84 for two years.

Is there some legitimate reason that you don't understand, and can't communicate, PIA's pricing structure? I'm a customer of theirs, and you seem to have a huge axe to grind.

Re: NordVPN sued by Torguard for blackmail [pdf]

#159

Post by ggg2 »

jimbokun wrote: post #58
kadoban wrote: post #13

NordVPN is by far the shittiest VPN service I have ever used. They billed me twice, two months in a row, and getting them to fix it was like pulling teeth. This is not to mention the hard time I had actually using the service, between random inability to connect and outages. They have ISP-level arrogance, without the lock-in. I have no idea how they're still in business. So I'd be very inclined towards believing this…

Can anyone recommend another VPN provider, than Nord or Torguard? Main use case is for using public WiFi when travelling.

in this day and age: just buy a data plan sim card! it will be safer, more pratical and cheaper.

even if you have to splurge in one country or another with bad monopoly cases (e.g. visiting the usa) it's still better than using a combination of open wifi + shady vpn (all of them)

Re: NordVPN sued by Torguard for blackmail [pdf]

#160

Post by [deleted] »

ghostwalking wrote: post #48
cyberpunk wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading the parent pdf vs Nord's response [0] I'm slightly more inclined to believe Nords version of events here... 0: https://nordvpn.com/blog/torguard-lawsuit/

The NordVPN blog post leaves me with many questions. 1) Someone supposedly "gave" them the URL. They do not state how they found it, or how it was related to TorGuard. So who gave it to them? The Collective 7 hosting company? It appears Collective 7 was selling "Residential Solutions for VPN Providers": http://web.archive.org/web/20171215024207/http://collectives... 2) Did they ask TorGuard to censor Youtuber "Tom sp…

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