NordVPN library and client code open-sourced • Hacker News Board

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#31

Post by irrational » Tue, Mar 14, 2023, 3:24 PM UTC

systems wrote: post #27

So, should we, or should we not use a VPN? If most sites nowadays are on HTTPS, is vpn still needed for daily use I think the only reason now to use a vpn, is to login to a site as if from a different location, if the site blocks your region, or sensor some of its content Any other good reason to use a vpn

I was wondering the same thing. How would my ISP even know that I am using a site like z-library if everything is over HTTPS?

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#32

Post by Ekaros » Tue, Mar 14, 2023, 3:25 PM UTC

systems wrote: post #27

So, should we, or should we not use a VPN? If most sites nowadays are on HTTPS, is vpn still needed for daily use I think the only reason now to use a vpn, is to login to a site as if from a different location, if the site blocks your region, or sensor some of its content Any other good reason to use a vpn

I suppose there is also governmental and ISP filtering and firewalls. So not too many scenarios.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#33

Post by devmor » Tue, Mar 14, 2023, 3:26 PM UTC

irrational wrote: post #31

systems wrote: post #27

So, should we, or should we not use a VPN? If most sites nowadays are on HTTPS, is vpn still needed for daily use I think the only reason now to use a vpn, is to login to a site as if from a different location, if the site blocks your region, or sensor some of its content Any other good reason to use a vpn

I was wondering the same thing. How would my ISP even know that I am using a site like z-library if everything is over HTTPS?

DNS for one, if you're using theirs.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#34

Post by moremetadata » Tue, Mar 14, 2023, 3:26 PM UTC

acatton wrote: post #7

Reminder that it looks like NordVPN does shady stuff: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29285988 Allegedly, they are using their customers as botnets to resell traffic from residential IPs, mostly for scraping, through their other business "Oxylabs".

[dead]

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#35

Post by DeathArrow » Tue, Mar 14, 2023, 3:26 PM UTC

acatton wrote: post #7

Reminder that it looks like NordVPN does shady stuff: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29285988 Allegedly, they are using their customers as botnets to resell traffic from residential IPs, mostly for scraping, through their other business "Oxylabs".

Is this legal? What is someone else is doing illegal things using your IP?

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#36

Post by Laaas » Tue, Mar 14, 2023, 3:27 PM UTC

irrational wrote: post #31

systems wrote: post #27

So, should we, or should we not use a VPN? If most sites nowadays are on HTTPS, is vpn still needed for daily use I think the only reason now to use a vpn, is to login to a site as if from a different location, if the site blocks your region, or sensor some of its content Any other good reason to use a vpn

I was wondering the same thing. How would my ISP even know that I am using a site like z-library if everything is over HTTPS?

Host names are commonly unencrypted. See [0]. IP addresses also tell a lot. They can check what domain names map to that IP address.

[0]: https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/what-is-encrypted-sn...

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#37

Post by Ekaros » Tue, Mar 14, 2023, 3:27 PM UTC

irrational wrote: post #31

systems wrote: post #27

So, should we, or should we not use a VPN? If most sites nowadays are on HTTPS, is vpn still needed for daily use I think the only reason now to use a vpn, is to login to a site as if from a different location, if the site blocks your region, or sensor some of its content Any other good reason to use a vpn

I was wondering the same thing. How would my ISP even know that I am using a site like z-library if everything is over HTTPS?

IP addresses? DNS queries? Later if you either use ISP provided DNS servers or unencrypted DNS. You can identify host from queries and IPs and then match it to TLS connection.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#38

Post by SV_BubbleTime » Tue, Mar 14, 2023, 3:28 PM UTC

irrational wrote: post #31

systems wrote: post #27

So, should we, or should we not use a VPN? If most sites nowadays are on HTTPS, is vpn still needed for daily use I think the only reason now to use a vpn, is to login to a site as if from a different location, if the site blocks your region, or sensor some of its content Any other good reason to use a vpn

I was wondering the same thing. How would my ISP even know that I am using a site like z-library if everything is over HTTPS?

They still likely get your DNS info, and also they know you are connected to x ip address which is likely y service.

All HTTPS does is make sure they can’t see what you are transferring. There is still meta data to whom.

Why do you think google runs 8.8.8.8? It’s not out of kindness.

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#39

Post by lalopalota » Tue, Mar 14, 2023, 3:28 PM UTC

systems wrote: post #27

So, should we, or should we not use a VPN? If most sites nowadays are on HTTPS, is vpn still needed for daily use I think the only reason now to use a vpn, is to login to a site as if from a different location, if the site blocks your region, or sensor some of its content Any other good reason to use a vpn

- limit amount of browsing data collected by ISP

- untrusted networks (public wifi)

- normalize usage of privacy preserving practices

Re: NordVPN library and client code open-sourced

#40

Post by frakt0x90 » Tue, Mar 14, 2023, 3:28 PM UTC

systems wrote: post #27

So, should we, or should we not use a VPN? If most sites nowadays are on HTTPS, is vpn still needed for daily use I think the only reason now to use a vpn, is to login to a site as if from a different location, if the site blocks your region, or sensor some of its content Any other good reason to use a vpn

Correct me if I'm wrong, but origin and destination are still visible to your ISP and any snoopers on your network. The content is encrypted, but not the origin and destination of the request. I use Mullvad because they seem to be a company with insanely good ethics and it's only $5/month. Mozilla VPN uses the under the hood I think.