NordVPN confirms it was hacked

#1

Post by afshinmeh » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 2:26 PM UTC

NordVPN confirms it was hacked
techcrunch.com

Re: NordVPN confirms it was hacked

#2

Post by ngcc_hk » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 1:21 PM UTC

Wow. Just switch per advice of lihkg! How serious? Seems all tech talk but not impact talk

Re: NordVPN confirms it was hacked

#3

Post by AdmiralAsshat » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 1:32 PM UTC

https://twitter.com/hexdefined/status/1186214904132300800

The thread indicates that VikingVPN and Torguard were also compromised at some point. Highly concerning.

Re: NordVPN confirms it was hacked

#4

Post by Sir_Cmpwn » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 1:33 PM UTC

NordVPN is being recommended a lot to people who don't know better by influencers on social media, especially on YouTube. This kind of endorsement is recklessly negligent and needs to stop.

https://drewdevault.com/2019/04/19/Your-VPN-is-a-serious-cho...

Edit: note that I don't blame these influencers for their ignorance on the risks of using a VPN; rather I blame the shady VPN providers for overselling the security value of their product and leading users into a false sense of security.

Re: NordVPN confirms it was hacked

#5

Post by mdorazio » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 1:34 PM UTC

Someone is probably going to ask what other HN users recommend as an alternative. Personally, I use Private Internet Access because they're the only provider I've found with a track record of demonstrably not being able to turn your records over to someone asking for them [1].

[1] https://torrentfreak.com/private-internet-access-no-logging-...

Re: NordVPN confirms it was hacked

#6

Post by donkeyd » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 1:34 PM UTC

ngcc_hk wrote: post #2

Wow. Just switch per advice of lihkg! How serious? Seems all tech talk but not impact talk

> How serious?

From my understanding, that really depends what you're using it for. My friends mostly use Nord to get around region locks for Netflix etc. I think impact for them is minimal.

If you were using NordVPN in Hong Kong, to cover your involvement in the protests, then it could be a lot more serious. I wouldn't use Nord (or any comparable provider) for that anyway, since their holdings tend to be pretty opaque. That doesn't mean nobody did use it for stuff like that though.

Re: NordVPN confirms it was hacked

#7

Post by clSTophEjUdRanu » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 1:35 PM UTC

I like Mullvad

Re: NordVPN confirms it was hacked

#8

Post by tmikaeld » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 1:37 PM UTC

mdorazio wrote: post #5

Someone is probably going to ask what other HN users recommend as an alternative. Personally, I use Private Internet Access because they're the only provider I've found with a track record of demonstrably not being able to turn your records over to someone asking for them [1]. [1] https://torrentfreak.com/private-internet-access-no-logging-...

Yeah, they have been around for a very long time too. Used to be the more expensive alternative though, glad to see their prices have fallen a bit.

Re: NordVPN confirms it was hacked

#9

Post by iaml » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 1:38 PM UTC

clSTophEjUdRanu wrote: post #7

I like Mullvad

Mullvad is a decent option, they have openvpn based app and wireguard profiles. Didn’t have any connectivity issues either.

Re: NordVPN confirms it was hacked

#10

Post by tmikaeld » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 1:40 PM UTC

It's odd that NordVPN, VikingVPN and Torguard all got their private keys leaked here.

- Did the hackers use an SSH or a VPN service vulnerability?

- Or maybe even a previously unknown vulnerability?

- Was SSH access firewalled? If not, why?

- Do they still have root access?