Interesting! Which VPN providers can you recommend?
For many years, I've recommended AirVPN, Insorg, IVPN and Mullvad. And formerly BolehVPN and PIA. There was chatter about BolehVPN's logging policy. And now about PIA's acquisition by a firm with an iffy reputation. Those are all relatively old, compared to mainstream VPN services. So there's been more time for bad news to come out. I've also used older ones, such as Cryptohippie and Rayservers. They're among the fir…
When the concern is our privacy and secrecy, isn’t it better to err on the side of caution than trust naively? What if it were a matter of health? Should we trust before verifying? Would it still be a “loaded” question?
By that logic everyone and everything is corrupt, monitored, etc. Including the hardware you might install your own VPN node on, all messenger apps, all phone lines, the mail, and so on. Your best friends are all spies. Your bedroom is bugged. That would mean there is absolutely no way to improve your privacy and you might as well do nothing.
By your logic you should trust every ad on the web, click on every flashing button, and eat or drink every thing any random stranger offers you.
Stuxnet was created by the NSA in a joint operation with 8200. And yes there are 50,000 ex-8200 alumni, so calling all of them spies is kind of absurd
Calling them spy may be wrong, but I certainly won't ever work with, or use technology made by people who worked for an intelligence agency. That's something over which I'd also terminate friendships. And many people have a similar mindset, so it's understandable to report this information, and make consumer choices based on it. That said, Israel should probably consider solutions like other countries with mandatory…
Israel does allow it in some cases, but the security conditions in Israel and Germany are very different, as is the size of their population. But I have some bad news for you: you are most likely using technology made by people who've worked for intelligence agencies. For example, if you're using Intel chips, many dozens of their designers served in Israel's military intelligence. Same goes for Google, Apple and Microsoft products. It's just that a very high percentage of engineers in Israel served in military intelligence, and a lot of technology companies do R&D in Israel. But if you use Wikipedia, it's OK: its PHP engine was made by someone who served in the Israeli airforce, not military intelligence. Although, your packets are probably routed through Cisco routers, so maybe not so OK. Oh, Akamai servers, too. Also, there could be an issue with your Qualcomm Wifi chip.
To me the word spy and the term ex-intel paint a very different picture of the person being described. When I realized this guy was just in the 8200 unit I literally giggled at the notion that all those 18 year old nerds are all spooky spies.
Do you believe people would continue using a VPN if they knew several of its employees were ex-NSA? No, not at all. The same applies here, it doesn't matter if you call the people spy or not, VPNs should not have any association with intelligence services.
Thing is, Akamai and Cisco employ a lot of those people. Quite many of them in security research. People who were in the NSA or Israeli intelligence are the people companies seek when they want security. Israel's military intelligence is one of the places where VPNs were first used, and the idea later became commercial VPN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_Point#History
Seems to me that the "spy" was doing mandatory military service when he was 18 in the Intelligence part of the army? It seems common for many Israeli technically minded teens to go into that or similar wings rather than the more on the ground units. It was from 1995 to 1998 (that's 20 years ago now) before he was at University and is the first item in his work experience. And the length of the position is about the s…
Can confirm. Israelis (for the most part) have mandatory service after high school. Joining the Modiin (Intelligence Unit) is great, it's akin to other high value units like Golani and 8888, but it's just a unit. My friend in Modiin is literally a report editor - not everyone in every unit does every thing.
To answer your other question - Sagi is 48, and one of Israel's most successful technology investors.
Ugh, this sucks. I've used PIA for ages as well. Their infrastructure is really great too - I get better latency on PIA than my own ISP sometimes!
If you got better latency through a VPN than your ISP that means your ISP sucks, not that the VPN is great.
Well, I was using Openreach which is the largest consumer ISP in the UK. Specifically my latencies were better to the US when using PIA. So PIA had more favourable routing / commercial agreements than the largest UK ISP. So I'd say the VPN infrastructure is pretty good, even if it's simply relying on AWS or something.
Calling them spy may be wrong, but I certainly won't ever work with, or use technology made by people who worked for an intelligence agency. That's something over which I'd also terminate friendships. And many people have a similar mindset, so it's understandable to report this information, and make consumer choices based on it. That said, Israel should probably consider solutions like other countries with mandatory…
Israel does allow it in some cases, but the security conditions in Israel and Germany are very different, as is the size of their population. But I have some bad news for you: you are most likely using technology made by people who've worked for intelligence agencies. For example, if you're using Intel chips, many dozens of their designers served in Israel's military intelligence. Same goes for Google, Apple and Micr…
In the end, it still makes sense to realize this, and to be cautious. The NSA, Israeli Intelligence, BKA, FSB, etc are all not much better than the StaSi, and one should treat them, and their (ex-)employees with as much trust and respect.
Of course using SELinux or TOR, or Intel products is something that’s hard to avoid, but one shouldn’t trust blindly.
Israel does allow it in some cases, but the security conditions in Israel and Germany are very different, as is the size of their population. But I have some bad news for you: you are most likely using technology made by people who've worked for intelligence agencies. For example, if you're using Intel chips, many dozens of their designers served in Israel's military intelligence. Same goes for Google, Apple and Micr…
In the end, it still makes sense to realize this, and to be cautious. The NSA, Israeli Intelligence, BKA, FSB, etc are all not much better than the StaSi, and one should treat them, and their (ex-)employees with as much trust and respect. Of course using SELinux or TOR, or Intel products is something that’s hard to avoid, but one shouldn’t trust blindly.
> The NSA, Israeli Intelligence, BKA, FSB, etc are all not much better than the StaSi
I guess it depends on your definition of "much better", but for roughly the same definition you'd need to use to make that statement, you could also make it about Google and Facebook. And note that we're not talking about Israeli intelligence; we're talking about people who, when they were in their late teens and early twenties served, like a big portion of tech workers in Israel, did their mandatory service in a military intelligence unit. I know it's hard for people not familiar with it to understand, but most of these people don't have contacts in intelligence, as the personnel circulation in those units is very high -- almost everyone is just serving a few years for their mandatory service.
Seems to me that the "spy" was doing mandatory military service when he was 18 in the Intelligence part of the army? It seems common for many Israeli technically minded teens to go into that or similar wings rather than the more on the ground units. It was from 1995 to 1998 (that's 20 years ago now) before he was at University and is the first item in his work experience. And the length of the position is about the s…
Yes, and CrossRider mostly did an SDK for cross-browser extensions. I used their product before they did ads and it worked pretty well. I stopped using them because I could stop supporting IE but they had a real product back then. Teddy Sagi is bad for other (gambling related) reasons - but he is just an investor...
Teddy has sold most if not all of his shares in Playtech and other gambling related businesses[1].
Also calling every one who ever served in 8200 an Israeli spy is ridiculous. Military service is mandatory in Israel. Lots of kids serve in 8200 because they get assigned there for their affinity for math and computers. Most of them do menial Ops tasks, I interview them occasionally for junior positions.
Here are some Israel startups founded by "spies": ICQ, CheckPoint, Wix ...
In the end, it still makes sense to realize this, and to be cautious. The NSA, Israeli Intelligence, BKA, FSB, etc are all not much better than the StaSi, and one should treat them, and their (ex-)employees with as much trust and respect. Of course using SELinux or TOR, or Intel products is something that’s hard to avoid, but one shouldn’t trust blindly.
> The NSA, Israeli Intelligence, BKA, FSB, etc are all not much better than the StaSi I guess it depends on your definition of "much better", but for roughly the same definition you'd need to use to make that statement, you could also make it about Google and Facebook. And note that we're not talking about Israeli intelligence; we're talking about people who, when they were in their late teens and early twenties serv…
> you could also make it about Google and Facebook
Would you trust Google or Facebook to run a VPN? No, I don't trust them at all. I only use them in the most limited amount necessary, and only entrust them with data which is already public.
I self-host everything else, because I don't trust them at all.