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NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

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Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#251

Post by mardifoufs »

throwaway18536 wrote: post #240
acatton wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, my phrasing was wrong. The second part of my comment had nothing to do with the first link. I am basing the second part on this research: https://www.docdroid.net/kOP3JAh/tesonet-web-of-lies-pdf I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but the relations of Tesonet, NordVPN and Oxylab is creepy at best. People make the allegation that NordVPN is routing some of Oxylabs' traffic, because that's exactly what HolaVPN and Br…

There are no “relations” between these companies, they are literally one company operating under different names to be less visible. Source: ex-employee.

Do they actually route traffics through nordvpn consumers, though? If you don't mind sharing.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#252

Post by LeBit »

disadvantage wrote: post #204
wackget wrote: post #182

NordVPN, eh? I'll never forget there was a reddit thread on /r/vpn where a NordVPN customer complained about a billing issue or something. NordVPN's official response was to get defensive; they proceeded to actually publicly post a screenshot which included the customer's email address . I couldn't believe it. That tells you all you need to know about NordVPN's terrible attitude towards privacy.

> terrible attitude towards privacy A VPN is inherently not a privacy tool. It is perceived that way because of the acronym Virtual 'Private' Network but privacy is not in the design specs at all. It's just for tunneling over untrusted networks like Starbucks Wi-Fi and spoofing your geo-location. That's it. You can't verify the no-logs claims by providers unless you're physically in their building and auditing the se…

My ISP doesn't see what I do.

My DNS queries are sent into a private network. Nobody knows what I'm looking at.

When I torrent movies, my IP cannot be tracked. It is shared with many users.

It is fast.

Those are all grest properties I gladly pay for.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#253

Post by None4U »

lxgr wrote: post #232
spookthesunset wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if the VPN provider really was routing other customers traffic through your internet… you’d know it. You’d see requests and traffic that you didn’t make going across your router. Since you’d be the endpoint for the other dudes VPN you could probably even see what IPs they are connecting to and get an idea about the nature of their requests. I dunno if SSL encrypts the entire HTTP payload or not but could you even…

Full URLs: Definitely not. Path and query parameters are part of the HTTP payload, i.e. encrypted within HTTPS. Host names: Very likely, unless you're using SNI.

You mean eSNI, SNI is the field containing the hostname and eSNI stands for "encrypted SNI"

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#254

Post by wswope »

vykintasmak wrote: post #209

Hey, Vykintas from NordVPN here. Hackernews looks to be a tough crowd, so I wanted to add a few things. Today as you correctly spotted we released a Linux app as well as Libtelio and Libdrop open source - a step towards more transparency. Can see quite a few conspiracy theories there, happy to address them. While no service out there is perfect, we are aiming to create the best VPN service. Nord isn't keeping any log…

I canceled my sub months ago after getting completely fed up with the Linux CLI client spamming ad-like output trying to push some new feature after running any sort of command. Definitely coulda come up with a bash alias to scrub it out, but despite really liking Nord’s features otherwise, I didn’t want to play whack-a-mole with a closed source client or suffer the slowness/pain of going the OpenVPN route.

This is EXACTLY the right signal to bring myself (and presumably many other people in the same boat) back as happy customers. Sorry you’re dealing with unhinged conspiracy theories in this thread… but I think in the long run, this open sourcing will go a long way towards shoring up your customer base and keeping power users happy. Great work and TYVM!

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#255

Post by [deleted] »

hannob wrote: post #115

The fact that NordVPN needs its own library should already be seen as a red flag. If you need a VPN at all (which you usually don't) then you should use something that works with widely used and tested protocols. That was historically ipsec or openvpn (both not ideal), these days wireguard is probably a better choice. That's all apart from the fact that most reasons advertised by companies like NordVPN why you need a…

[deleted]

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#256

Post by Noma »

pbronez wrote: post #181
TecoAndJix wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Digging into this on oxylabs site i found this document: https://oxylabs.io/Oxylabs_Residential_Proxy_Acquisition_Han... "Consenting and fully aware individuals become a part of a residential proxy network in return for a financial reward or some other benefit. When they choose to participate in our suppliers’ pools, they consent that a part of their internet traffic and a small amount of the device’s hardware resour…

This sounds like HoneyGain https://www.honeygain.com/

Yup, Honeygain supplies Oxylabs

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#257

Post by maxloh »

acatton wrote: post #16
mjdowney wrote: post #9

Since there is so much criticism here of NordVPN (in general, not for open-sourcing), what are the VPNs that people like?

I am not related to them, I'm just a user of it. But Mullvad.net is the only decent VPN. (They're the one Mozilla chose to provide their VPN infrastructure) They've been audited https://mullvad.net/en/blog/2022/6/22/vpn-server-audit-found... I have no financial incentive to vouch for them. But what do you care, I'm just a random guy on the internet.

How about ProtonVPN?

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#258

Post by lxgr »

None4U wrote: post #253
lxgr wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Full URLs: Definitely not. Path and query parameters are part of the HTTP payload, i.e. encrypted within HTTPS. Host names: Very likely, unless you're using SNI.

You mean eSNI, SNI is the field containing the hostname and eSNI stands for "encrypted SNI"

Right, thanks!

I keep thinking the "e" is for "enhanced" encryption, i.e. "eSNI 2.0", but what I'm thinking of is actually called ECH (for "encrypted client hello"): https://blog.cloudflare.com/encrypted-client-hello/

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#259

Post by LoganDark »

dhaavi wrote: post #197
mjdowney wrote: post #9

Since there is so much criticism here of NordVPN (in general, not for open-sourcing), what are the VPNs that people like?

If you're up to trying something new, we've built a technology to replace consumer privacy VPNs: https://safing.io/spn/ Technical summary of the SPN (Safing Privacy Network): - A Privacy Network aimed at use cases "between" VPN and Tor. - Uses onion encryption over multiple hops just like Tor. - Routes are chosen to cover most distance within the network to increase privacy. - Exits are chosen near the destination se…

Just so everyone knows: only Safing hosts exit nodes. Only relays (the intermediate hops) can come from the community.
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