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Hola VPN turns 10M users into exit nodes

8ch.net

21–30 of 144 posts

Re: Hola VPN turns 10M users into exit nodes

#21
post #10
post #7

I doubt that if they sell their users as bots they will do anything about the network being used as a botnet and there is nothing you can do about it, especially considering the users 'responsible' won't even know what they are taking part in.

It's not clear that part of the article is even true. They appear to just sell VPN server by the GB. I see nothing about a botnet in there, there is no traffic amplification or ability to run programs on the clients.

you obviously don't understand this :)

Re: Hola VPN turns 10M users into exit nodes

#22
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually point people to this: http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-revie... As a former privacy VPN operator I can tell you its extremely hard to operate one securely.

There is no such thing as total security, there is only what we know and then what we do not know.

Exactly. And even when you're working on the known issues, they tend to be non-trivial. Its hard.

Re: Hola VPN turns 10M users into exit nodes

#23
post #6

Anyone have VPN recommendations?

i've been renting a cheap-as-dirt vps ($15/yr) and just using sshuttle[0] to proxy through it which works great for my circumstances (my school blocks nonstandard ports but is just dandy with 22) [0] https://github.com/apenwarr/sshuttle

You could also setup tinyproxy (https://banu.com/tinyproxy/) to proxy http/https via your linux VPS (and limit connections to only your ip)

or

even better just run socks5 thru ssh http://straightedgelinux.com/blog/howto/socks.html

Tho I recommend using autossh to maintain the ssh tunnel which could be flaky at times

http://www.debianadmin.com/autossh-automatically-restart-ssh...

Re: Hola VPN turns 10M users into exit nodes

#24

Anyone have VPN recommendations?

Roll your own: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-setu...

Please do not ever use PPTP — it has been broken for years. Instead use OpenVPN.

https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/47518/is-pptp-v...

Re: Hola VPN turns 10M users into exit nodes

#25
post #3

They explicitly state in their FAQ how this works and why their service is able to be free: http://hola.org/faq#in_how_is_free They even have a non-free option that eliminates the VPN as a proxy feature. "Hola built a peer to peer overlay network for HTTP, which securely routes the sites you choose through other Hola users' devices and not through expensive servers. Hola never takes up valuable resources from these u…

And that somehow makes what they're doing OK?

I'm not sure I understand your logic here. They've come up with a clever way to create a sustainable, free vpn service, with the ability to easily opt-out for a still reasonable price. All the while clearly stating how it all works in their FAQ.

What more do you want them to do?

Re: Hola VPN turns 10M users into exit nodes

#26
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Roll your own: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-setu...

That works if you want to pretend you're from a different country. It doesn't work if you want to anonymize yourself.

Use Tor if you want to anonymize yourself, not a VPN ffs.

Re: Hola VPN turns 10M users into exit nodes

#27
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that somehow makes what they're doing OK?

I'm not sure I understand your logic here. They've come up with a clever way to create a sustainable, free vpn service, with the ability to easily opt-out for a still reasonable price. All the while clearly stating how it all works in their FAQ. What more do you want them to do?

What happens when the Feds are knocking on your door because someone routed kiddie pr0n or drug deals through your connection?

Re: Hola VPN turns 10M users into exit nodes

#28
post #27
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I understand your logic here. They've come up with a clever way to create a sustainable, free vpn service, with the ability to easily opt-out for a still reasonable price. All the while clearly stating how it all works in their FAQ. What more do you want them to do?

What happens when the Feds are knocking on your door because someone routed kiddie pr0n or drug deals through your connection?

Doesn't that same risk exist if you're running a Tor exit node?

Re: Hola VPN turns 10M users into exit nodes

#29
post #3

They explicitly state in their FAQ how this works and why their service is able to be free: http://hola.org/faq#in_how_is_free They even have a non-free option that eliminates the VPN as a proxy feature. "Hola built a peer to peer overlay network for HTTP, which securely routes the sites you choose through other Hola users' devices and not through expensive servers. Hola never takes up valuable resources from these u…

Hello, Fredrick Brennan here (8chan owner).

They changed their FAQ IN RESPONSE to my breaking the story on this.

Proof:

Google cache of Hola FAQ as of 26 May: https://archive.is/tgujS

As you can see, there is no mention of Luminati, or the underlying mechanics at all.

I published hola.html and updated my global announcement just hours before the FAQ change: https://twitter.com/infinitechan/status/603178141650026498

There are millions of users who installed this and do not know how it works. Please do not downplay this issue.

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