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PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

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Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#111

Post by BatZzZz »

This is such nonsense... The author ought to be sued for slandering.

Crossrider/Kape acquired quite a few companies over the years. In fact, it went public in 2015 when it was profitable, and the money was going to be used for M&As. I know, because my own company was acquired by them. I know Koby, the first CEO. He is no more of a "spy" than any other Israeli who served in the army (now is the cue for anyone with a hidden racist agenda to respond). Army service in Israel is mandatory, and Koby did serve in the army intelligence about 20 years earlier. The majority of software companies in Israel have people who served in army intelligence when they were 19. They're not spies, they were teens, and by the time they were 21, they moved on with their lives. Not to mention the fact that Koby left his seat as ceo in 2016, along with many of the original team (myself included), and the company turned its business around and killed the developer platform that it created because it turned out other companies were using it sometimes to create malware.

I really do hope someone gets the author of this piece for slandering. (Full disclosure: I haven't worked in the company since 2016, I havent owned any shares for a few years now, I hardly know anyone who works there anymore, and I have no inside knowledge of the company)

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#112

Post by jchw »

beilabs wrote: post #14

Disappointed. I've been with PIA for a few years now and I always recommended them and loved their support. I just cancelled my annual subscription which was due to expire in 100 days. Vote with your wallet. Any recommendations for a new VPN provider?

I know there are plenty of Mullvad recommendations in this thread, but I can wholeheartedly recommend Mullvad as well. They don't seem to spend as much on marketing as many of the VPN services do, but the service I've gotten is solid, and they seem to have a pretty clean track record.

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#113

Post by v64 »

rasengan wrote: post #108
v64 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given Kape's past history, I'm skeptical that PIA will be able to maintain their current levels of privacy regarding data mining and logging. I'm willing to give PIA the benefit of the doubt and accept that they believe they'll be able to do so, but as is the case in mergers like these, sometimes you simply lose that battle with your new corporate partner. My fear is that they end up doing the same level of shady act…

> Since PIA was in debt, it doesn't sound like maintaining the current service as is would be profitable. Private Internet Access is very profitable [1] and our new partner’s action of merging with PIA speaks louder than words whether privacy is important to them. [1] https://investors.kape.com/~/media/Files/K/Kape-IR/reports-a... (Slide 5)

First, I'd like to thank you for your participation in this thread. As a long time PIA customer (until recently), I trusted (and still continue to trust) the current staff. All of my hesitation is with Kape and I truly hope at the end of the day they don't end up steamrolling you.

That being said, if the company was profitable, why even entertain this merger? I simply don't see how getting into bed with a company with such a sordid past is worth it if you were able to make it on your own.

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#114

Post by Razengan »

icelancer wrote: post #89
sneak wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And in the VPN world, trust is fundamental. Why do you say this? Isn't it generally believed that most/all large VPN services are monitored specifically by the governments of the countries in which they operate?

...no?

How can we verify that?

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#115

Post by nurettin »

sneak wrote: post #85
_joe wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Changing of ownership fundamentally resets the trust we all had in PIA, which was due to you having proven in court you deliver on what you declare. And in the VPN world, trust is fundamental. I am still surprised you didn't see this coming.

> And in the VPN world, trust is fundamental. Why do you say this? Isn't it generally believed that most/all large VPN services are monitored specifically by the governments of the countries in which they operate?

Vodafone runs a large vpn, and I know from the people who sell them logging services they are obligated by the governments of multiple nations to keep url logs for a number of months that vary depending on the target's information retaining laws.

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#116

Post by smsm42 »

rasengan wrote: post #4

This article and articles like this miscast Kape in an incorrect light. To be clear, in the past the company was known as CrossRider and provided a developer SDK that could be used to integrate with browsers. Unfortunately, CrossRider didn't do enough to prevent malware (like platforms these days and their fake news) and the platform was used by some bad people for bad purposes. When the new management team of CrossR…

Thank you for taking time to explain your position. I can appreciate the need for resources and why you think this deal is the right thing to do for your company. I've trusted you company enough to use it for years and buy a multi-year subscription. Unfortunately, given the track record of Kape, I can't trust the bundle of Kape+PIA the way I trusted PIA alone. Maybe in the following years this trust will be accumulated, but right now, due to Kape history, it's below zero, drugged down by Kape's past. I understand all about new management and stuff, but adware alone is a business shady enough that steering clear of it in matters like VPN seems to be a basic prudence. And when malware added to the mix... as I said, trust level becomes negative. Good luck in your future work, hopefully your new combined company will accumulate the trust again, but I'll be using some other solution for now.

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#117

Post by mirimir »

flyinglizard wrote: post #110
mirimir wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I do my best to hedge relying on trust. But Kape is just way too beyond the pale. Perhaps it's unfair, but the association with Israeli intelligence, and so indirectly with NGO Group and the NSA, is just too much.

This company has no association with the Israeli intelligence whatsoever. Many, many of the Israelis involved in the technology world have served in the IDF Intelligence Corps (being that Israel has mandatory conscription and the intel corps select the best and brightest).

And you know that how?

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#118

Post by donmcronald »

v64 wrote: post #113
rasengan wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Since PIA was in debt, it doesn't sound like maintaining the current service as is would be profitable. Private Internet Access is very profitable [1] and our new partner’s action of merging with PIA speaks louder than words whether privacy is important to them. [1] https://investors.kape.com/~/media/Files/K/Kape-IR/reports-a... (Slide 5)

First, I'd like to thank you for your participation in this thread. As a long time PIA customer (until recently), I trusted (and still continue to trust) the current staff. All of my hesitation is with Kape and I truly hope at the end of the day they don't end up steamrolling you. That being said, if the company was profitable, why even entertain this merger? I simply don't see how getting into bed with a company wit…

I don’t know anything about the industry, but my guess is that being a big VPN company puts a target on your back. Everyone pretends they care enough about privacy to use a VPN, but the vast majority of users commingle environments and identities to the point that, IMO, they can be tracked across VPNs.

VPNs are mainly for piracy and it’s only a matter of time until big media takes a shot at suing someone. No one wants to be that someone, so selling to anyone becomes attractive. I doubt there’s a lineup to buy a company who’s main talent is under assessing risk.

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#119

Post by peteretep »

beilabs wrote: post #14

Disappointed. I've been with PIA for a few years now and I always recommended them and loved their support. I just cancelled my annual subscription which was due to expire in 100 days. Vote with your wallet. Any recommendations for a new VPN provider?

Freedome. They're owned by F-Secure who have far more to lose than most other VPN providers by pulling stupid tricks
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